Beauty and the Beast
by Snavej
Summary: 'I never realised how much I took my looks for granted until I lost them. It was four months ago today that the left side of my face received 3rd degree burns. It was four months ago today that I lost my abilities.' Ten years has passed and Oliver finally returns to Japan
1. Chapter 1: Oliver

I never realised how much I took my looks for granted until I lost them. It was four months ago today that the left side of my face received 3rd degree burns. It was four months ago today that I lost my abilities.

I'll admit that it's quite amusing seeing how differently everyone treats me. I have been back at work for only a day and the girls around the office still stare, but no longer with longing or admiration, now only with disgust and pity.

I had expected the call to my father's office much earlier than lunchtime on my first day back.

I spent the morning writing up the incident report of my last case. I wrote, as succinctly as possible, how the spirit at the residence had seemed determined to hurt everyone close to our client, a single mother in her early twenties. My injury was the result of the spirit attempting to attack the woman's child. The hob had lit of its own accord and the kitchen door had locked with the child inside.

I had had to use PK to open the door. I had rushed in and grabbed the young girl as a fork of flame had escaped the hob in an attempt to harm the child. The flame had hit me in the left side of my face, but the child was safe.

That was the last thing I remembered, although Lin informed me when I woke in hospital that a priest banished the spirit. Vision in my left eye only recovered a month ago; the doctors were unsure if it would.

I printed off the report and took it with me to my father's office. He was waiting sombrely for me and did not manage to hide his revulsion at the sight of my once handsome face before I saw it. I knew he didn't really care about my face, only that I was alive, but I wondered how long it would be until he became used to the sight. My mother still cried every time she saw me.

"I have the incident report." I said as I sat down opposite him and handed him the document. "I have emailed you a pdf for the electronic copies."

"Miss Smith has asked me to pass on her thanks for your saving Lauren." Martin said.

I nodded in response. Saving people on cases had become a habit that had started with Mai Taniyama. Ten years later and I haven't lost it. Truth be told, I had liked Lauren, the little girl. Like most children, she was incapable of lying and although I have no idea how to act around children, their honesty is refreshing in this adult world of lying and deceit.

"I know you have only just returned…" Martin started, but I cut him off.

"You have to demote me from lead investigator."

"You have to understand Oliver, that without your abilities I can't give you a team any more. It was always your abilities that had allowed me to bend the rules." He said awkwardly.

"Now that I am ordinary, there are others with more experience that ought to have priority." I state. I am not surprised at all, I knew this was coming. James Jenkins, a man a few years my senior, has been irked by my position within BSPR for a long time.

"I can allow you to choose which team you are going to be placed in, given the circumstances." Martin said consolingly. I knew he was bending the rules to do that and appreciated the gesture.

"Does this mean I will no longer have Lin watching over me?" I ask.

"Well there is no reason for him to any longer. I believe he wishes to return to Madoka's team." Martin smiled.

"Madoka is still in Japan."

"Yes. The JSPR branch has been most successful, although full credit goes to you for setting it up." Martin inclined his head to me. I stand up and make to leave the office.

"I will think on it and give you my decision tomorrow."

"Are you coming for dinner tonight?" Martin called after me and I turn back at the doorway.

"Not tonight." And I leave, returning to my office. Well, what was my office. Now it will become some other lead investigator's office. I collect up my few personal belongings and make my way down the corridor to the office Lin shares with a few other researchers.

"Hello." He muttered, looking up from his work as I fall into the chair by his desk. "Talked to Martin already?"

"Yes. He said you wanted to return to Japan." I said. Lin looks up at me, a slight blush appearing in his cheeks. He is the only person that looks at me as if nothing has changed, something I am eternally grateful for, not that I would admit it.

"I had thought about it." He said quickly, looking back down at his work.

"Madoka is not moving any time soon. So will this be a permanent move?"

"Well if things work out."

"You mean if she agrees to marry you." I said, rolling my eyes. Lin video-called the woman every other day and somehow he expected me not to notice this, despite the glaring fact that we live together. It had taken me three years after my return to England to persuade my parents to let me move out. My mother had been particularly keen to keep me so close I had felt suffocated. Now, Lin and I live a ten minute drive away in a small flat.

"What will you do?" He asked, looking up again. "You could come with me?"

"The possibility had occurred to me. Now I've been demoted to the point where I can't sack people who piss me off, I don't much fancy staying here."

"But Mai-san is in Japan." Lin pointed out. I noted, slightly amused, how he continues to use honorifics with any of the names of our Japanese associates despite currently being in England.

"What of her?" I said, and now Lin rolled his eyes. "It has been ten years, Lin. She has had enough time to get over Gene. It's not as if I look much like him anymore." I had told Lin about what had transpired on the day we found Gene's body. He had given no reaction to the story until now and honestly, I was surprised he remembered it after so long.

"I wouldn't want it to be awkward, that's all."

"I see no reason for it to be awkward." I said. "I am going home, are you coming?"

"If you can wait half an hour for me to finish this translation, I will join you." Martin had been using Lin as a personal translation device recently. It was true that Lin was proficient in a many languages, but I couldn't help but feel it was demeaning work.

"You won't miss that in Japan." I said, standing up and leaving my belongings on the chair. "See you in half an hour." I said, planning on getting some lunch.

That evening, as I lay in bed, I thought about what returning to Japan would mean. A lot of crying from my mother would be expected, not that she had done much else since my injury. But Japan would mean better tea, better cases and better company. I like England and my parents. But some members of BSPR are completely ignorant arseholes. The team in Japan is too small to allow idiots on the payroll, except Mai of course. I briefly allow myself to wonder what she's like now. But I bet she hasn't changed one bit. She would still be small and constantly getting into trouble. She would still get riled by my teasing and shout at me when she thought I was being an arse. I chuckled internally at the thought.

Yes, Japan would be a good decision.

The following morning, I informed my father of my decision. He was upset, I think, at the prospect of me leaving so indefinitely, but accepted my plans without any complaints.

I had brought my laptop into the office, so I could sit at Lin's desk again. I booked us flights for the upcoming weekend using the company card - my father had not taken that away from me yet – and then phoned the JSPR office.

It was a little past 9am in the UK when I phoned, which made it just after 5pm in Tokyo. Madoka was the only one left in the office.

"Hello." I said, returning to my mother tongue.

"Oliver?" Madoka's voice said out of the earpiece. "Is everything okay?"

"I was just ringing to inform you of two new researchers who will be joining your team as of next week."

"Two?" Madoka sounded confused. "I know Martin had talked about expanding the JSPR branch, but I was only expecting one new researcher from what had been said. Who are they? I wasn't aware of any new Japanese speaking researchers at BSPR?"

"Koujo Lin and Shibuya Kazuya." I said, smirking at the squeals from the other end of the line.

"Really? Oh it will be wonderful to have the old team back together!" It never ceased to amaze me how much this woman, who was in her mid-thirties, could sound like a teenager.

"Do you want to speak to Lin?" I offered, Lin had been watching me the entire time I was on the phone.

"Well…" She sounded embarrassed. I passed the phone to Lin and then went to get a cup of tea, to give them some privacy.

The weekend could not come soon enough. I would have to explain my plans to my mother that evening. My father had insisted I come for dinner, with Lin, and told her in person. I was not looking forward to the prospect. I hated seeing her in pain and I knew my attempts to comfort her would be futile. It was only as I sat in the canteen, ignoring the stares of my co-workers and drinking a substandard cup of tea, that I had an idea.

That evening, as my mother carved the roast lamb and dished it out onto everyone's plates, my father brought up the reason for my visit.

"So I believe you have something to tell us Oliver?" He prompted lamely. Believe? He knew full well what I was going to tell them.

"Yes, Lin wishes to return to Japan and propose to Madoka." I had the whole speech planned in my head. Lin had spluttered at this point and almost choked. Perhaps I should have warned him. "I am going to accompany him for a few reasons. One, standing beside me, he'll definitely be the best looking guy in his wedding photos. Two, I have the experience to take over the JSPR branch while they are on their honeymoon. And finally, I fancy a change of scene." I shrugged off-handedly and took a bite of my dinner, awaiting the outcry from my mother.

"Oh Lin!" She squealed, leaving her chair to hug the poor man. "Oh that's wonderful news! You know I have been waiting so long for this to happen! Martin, dear, when was it that I first said those two would get married?" She turned to face my father expectantly. I knew Lin was glaring at me, but I ignored him. My plan to avert my mother to Lin's happiness and not my departure had gone very well.

"Well I believe since Madoka joined SPR and met…" Martin began, but Lin cut him off.

"Oliver, you forgot the other reason." He said, his voice filled with relish.

"Hmm, I think I would have stated any other reasons if I had had them." I said, looking round and glaring pointedly at him. I was not sure of what he was going to say, but it couldn't be something I would want said in front of my parents.

"I distinctly remember you saying earlier that you were most looking forward to seeing Mai-san again." Lin said. My mother spun around at his words.

"Mai? A girl?" She questioned, glee all over her face. "You want to see a girl Noll? Oh Martin we will be grandparents yet!" I could see the cogs working in her brain. "Is she the small pretty one we met?"

"Most of the women in Japan are small." I pointed out dully, still glaring at Lin.

"The really short one! Not the one in the kimono, the other one?" Her face was screwed up in remembering.

"Yes." Lin answered for me. "Dark brown hair, big brown eyes, quite loud, kind to everyone and the only one to stand up to Oliver." I rolled my eyes. Lin had dug a thoroughly deep hole and shoved me in it. There would be no escaping the interrogation for the rest of the night. At that moment, I really wished I could still use PK, in order to blow up Lin's head. My icy stares seemed to have no effect on the man.

"Oh it could be a double wedding!" My mother was crying delightedly. Only my father looked sympathetic to my pain, but a hint of amusement was traced across his face.

"What Lin seems to have misinterpreted, was a statement I made about how it would be less painful to work with our colleagues in Japan than the ignorant fools I put up with here." I said coldly, but my mother was not listening.

The weekend could not come soon enough.

**Author's note: This is my first attempt at a first person story, so I would love some feedback on that! Otherwise... Reviews?**


	2. Chapter 2: Mai

Madoka called me into her office on Friday morning, she seemed excited by something, but I had yet to work out what.

"Mai, are you busy tomorrow?" She asked as I closed her office door behind me.

"I had vague plans to clean the bathroom." I admitted; it was my turn to clean the bathroom. Madoka had done it last week.

"Oh good!" She grinned. "Because we have guests staying." We have a guest room in our apartment that John occasionally stays in when visiting Tokyo. "We have to pick them up from the airport at 3pm."

"Is it a work thing?" I asked, still slightly confused.

"I guess you could say that. We have some new employees, both I'm afraid outrank you."

"Wonderful." I sighed sadly. Madoka had taught me everything I needed to know in order to be a fully-fledged researcher, now the only thing holding me down was experience. You would think ten years in a field would be a lot of experience, but apparently not. Everyone I had met from every branch of SPR seemed to outrank me. "Do they speak Japanese?" I asked, remembering the last visitors we had, who were Romanian. They had known some English so all conversation had occurred in English – the only language I seem incapable of learning. I have tried my hand at a few languages over the years and I'm sure Latin was easier- and Latin was horrific. I mean, whose idea was it not to have a proper word order?

"Yes, they are both fluent." Madoka said, still grinning like she had a secret.

"Why are you smiling so much?" I asked.

"Oh Mai, aren't you going to guess who it is?"

Finally it clicked; only one person would make Madoka smile that much.

"Lin."

"Yes!" Madoka flew out of her chair and into my arms. She picked me up and twirled me around like I was a small child.

"Who's he bringing?" I asked when she finally put me down, slightly apprehensive of the answer.

"Oliver of course!" Madoka replied, ignorant of my concern. I hid my feelings and instead, posed another question.

"But we only have one spare room?" I realised as soon as I had spoken, that it had been a stupid question.

"Lin can sleep in my room." Madoka said, her smile turning sly.

"I am so glad my bedroom is not next to yours." I laughed.

"Yeah, I better buy some earplugs for Noll."

I returned to my desk and the report on the last case that I was finishing up. But however much I tried to concentrate on my work, my mind kept bouncing back to Oliver Davis.

That man had been haunting me since he left for England with Gene's body. Every time Gene entered my dreams, I was reminded of him. Every time I went on a date with another man, I was reminded of him. Every time I made a cup of tea, I was reminded of him.

I felt guilty for these feelings. I wanted nothing more than to forget him, but can you ever really forget your first love? I guess not.

A ping from my desktop told me I had an email.

**Mai, please read the enclosed report. I want you aware of the situation before they arrive tomorrow. Madoka.**

I open the attachment. The document was in English.

"Fuck." I mutter under my breath, then copy and paste the entire lot into an online translator. I read through the badly translated report, getting the gist. It was an incident report, the nice term for a 'someone fucked up and got hurt' report. Many of the files in our own office were incident reports of Mai Taniyama.

Someone had been badly burnt on a case by a violent spirit, but had saved the client's child. I opened the zip file of pictures and gasp.

"Naru…" I whispered. Half of his face looked like a molten lump of wax that someone had poked around with and stretched in weird places. The edges of his lips seemed to merge into the surrounding skin. The burn stopped just before his nose, but had caught his eye and I wondered if he could still see out of it. I gulped. The right half of his face looked no different to when he had left all those years ago. Maybe a little lined, but still handsome. An absurd thought hit me, he looked like that Batman character; Two-Face.

I left my desk and stormed into Madoka's office, I needed answers.

"When did it happen?"

"Four months ago." She knew exactly what I was talking about. "I only found out this morning, Martin sent me the files."

"Is he okay?"

"Lin seems to think so. Though he's been demoted to an ordinary investigator." Madoka saw my look of confusion and explained. "His position was partially due to his abilities, which he lost in the accident. No one at BSPR has worked out why his abilities have disappeared. But it means he can no longer be a Lead Investigator."

"Why are they coming here?"

"He had to pick a new team to be a part of. Lin wanted to come here." Madoka blushed. "Martin has talked of expanding this place, it made sense."

"Have you told the others?" I asked, meaning the other people we called in to work cases.

"Not yet, I informed you because you will be seeing him tomorrow. The others we will deal with in due course, I don't know if he wants everyone knowing or if he'd rather tell them himself."

"I see."

"He's still the same Mai. He hasn't changed one bit." Madoka said, trying to reassure me. "Perhaps we should take the rest of the day off." She suggested.

"Well if we have guests, I better get started on the bathroom." I say, trying to make light of the situation. I wasn't sure how I felt about the situation. Did it bother me that he'd been disfigured? Yes, of course it did. He'd been hurt, how could it not bother me? But it'd been ten years, how could he be the same?

Madoka drove us home and I set to work on the bathroom. It wasn't like it was dirty; we were pretty good at keeping on top of the household chores. Madoka's cheerfulness was infectious; I couldn't help but laugh with her. I knew she hadn't seen Lin for over a year; though why she hadn't visited him was beyond me.

That night, as I lay in bed, I imagined the scene; Lin walking through the doors of the airport and Madoka running into his open arms. I sighed, it was just too cute. I had just turned over to sleep, when my mobile started buzzing.

**Are we still on for tomorrow night? S. x**

It was Shinji Tendo. The man who I had been sort of dating for a few months now.

**What time?**

I replied quickly.

**8pm? S. x**

We would definitely be back from the airport by then.

**Can't wait, cya then.**

I just could not bring myself to put kisses at the end of my texts. We had kissed once on our last date, and it had been awkward. Shinji, despite being two years older than me, had never had a girlfriend before and was extremely nervous by the whole area of dating. He was a nice guy, intelligent and always open to new ideas and areas of discussion. But he was a painfully shy. It would take me an hour to get him talking and the slightest thing would put him back into his shy-mode. He was worth the time I had to put in, but it could be tiring upon occasion.

It took me an age to fall asleep and when I did, someone else was waiting for me.

"Hello Mai!" Gene said happily. We were in the black space that was so familiar to me.

"Hello Gene." I said, trying not to sound too disappointed. Honestly? I had wanted to sleep.

"Noll's coming back to Japan!" He said, grinning.

"Did you see the pictures?"

"Pictures? I saw the real thing. I am definitely the better looking twin now."

I laughed in spite of myself.

"When he asks about me…" Gene started, but I cut him off.

"I am not lying to him." I state. "Madoka knows you are still here and so will Naru if he asks."

"Mai, he'll just get pissy at me!"

"As if you have to put up with him!" I retorted, frowning. "It'll be me he takes it out on. 'Why haven't you made him move on?' 'Why have you let him stay?' 'Why are you such an idiot?'" I imitated an annoying voice.

"You love him really." Gene muttered. But before I could respond a loud ringing filled my ears. "That's the real world calling." He laughed at his own joke. I rolled my eyes and then concentrated on returning to my body.

A moment later I woke up in my bed, my phone was ringing.

"Hello?" I answered it.

"I am never ever talking to that man again." Ayako cried down the phone.

"What's happened now?" I look around at the clock, it was 2am. Great, no sleep for me.

"He cheated on me." She spat down the phone. "I thought monks were meant to have some sort of integrity?"

"Hang on what?" No way had Bou-san cheated on Ayako.

"At his gig this evening, I turn up to pick him up and he was snogging some 20 year old bimbo."

"Ayako, where are you?"

"Home."

"Where's he?"

"I could not care less." Ayako said; hurt penetrating every fibre of her voice.

"You should get some sleep Ayako; deal with him in the morning." I said rationally. "He is not worth your tears or your time."

"I'm sorry Mai." I hear tears on the other end of the phone. Damn.

"Ayako, it's fine. I will always be here for you, but you need sleep, I want sleep. I will phone you tomorrow okay?"

"Okay, sorry."

"Don't apologise."

"Goodnight Mai." She hung up. Sighing, I begin texting.

**I don't care what you did with whom, but seriously you need to stop because it is my sleep she is disrupting every time you do something stupid.**

I sent the message to Bou-san and then switched off my phone. Lying back down, I silently beg Gene to let me get some real sleep.

The following morning, I phoned Ayako and spent an hour talking through things with her. Bou-san never responded to my text. Something had been off with him for a few months now. I had been worried before, but Ayako had assured me everything was fine.

She decided to break up with him while we were talking and she ended our phone call to put her plan into immediate action. I sighed and then spent another hour filling Madoka in on what had happened.

"Do you think he really did cheat on her?" Madoka asked me as she dusted the bookshelves.

"I don't see why she would lie about it." I replied as I wiped up the mess I'd made during breakfast. I watched as Madoka looked at the clock again. She had done this every ten minutes all morning. I chuckled softly at her. "They'll be here soon enough."

**Author's Note: Tada! Second chapter! Reviews make me want to write more so please review! I would love to hear your thoughts on what's happened so far and what you think might happen. I have had a request regarding people dying in this story, and I can promise that at the moment I have no plans for anyone to die, but I can't promise I won't change my mind... Damn George R.R Martin, such a bad influence...**


	3. Chapter 3: Oliver

I will never miss flying. The twelve hour flight from London to Tokyo felt more like several years. I tried sleeping, I finished reading my book and I spent the remaining time counting the strange looks I received from the cabin crew. Showing my passport as we boarded the plane had been amusing. The air hostess checking the pictures against those entering the plane had taken one look at my passport photo, smiled, looked up and then gaped. I had raised my right eyebrow at her and she then checked herself, blushing furiously for her unprofessional manner.

Lin somehow had slept for the entire flight. At times I'd been tempted to kick him just so I had someone to talk to.

When we finally landed, Lin and I disembarked, went through passport control and security and collected our bags. Passport control had been another interesting endeavour. The man in his little glass box had been reluctant to allow me through at first; obviously thinking this was a disguise to illegally gain entry to the country. It had taken several calls to BSPR, the NHS and the British Embassy for him to agree that I was who I said I was.

Mai and Madoka were waiting for us as we passed through the final set of doors. Madoka, predictably, squealed and ran full pelt at Lin, who caught her and spun her around. I watched their antics with a smirk; I am not completely immune to the happiness of my friends.

Mai was watching them too, laughing. I would say she had grown into a beautiful young woman but she had not grown an inch. Her hair was longer than when I last saw her and her face had matured slightly, it looked a little thinner.

She noticed me studying her and made eye contact. I waited for the now familiar look of revulsion to appear, yet it didn't. Instead, she appeared curious. That was a new reaction.

"We should get going." Mai said, sounding tired. "Madoka! Let the poor man down!"

"No." Madoka protested. But Lin prized her off him and took her hand.

"Lead the way Madoka." He said. "Where are we staying?"

"With us of course." Madoka replied, as if it was obvious. My father had told us Madoka would have made arrangements, but this was not what I had expected.

"You live together?" I enquired as we started walking to the exit.

"Yes, that reminds me!" Mai replied, then she started rummaging through her bag. She pulled out two small packets and handed one to me and one to Lin. I could not read the kanji, but the illustrations told me they were earplugs. I looked up questioningly, but was distracted by Madoka's laughing.

Mai had given Lin a box of condoms. My present now made perfect sense.

Lin was blushing furiously, but Mai did not finish there.

"I was going to buy you some lube too, but I wasn't sure what sort you wanted. We can stop at a pharmacy on the way home if you want though." She said, without a hint of a blush. I was somewhat shocked; little Mai had certainly matured. Madoka was still in hysterics. She turned to me. "The earplugs were Madoka's idea; your room is right next to theirs."

"Right. Shall we?" I said, indicating the exit again. Madoka took the condoms and slipped them in her bag, Lin was still standing in shock. "Lin?" I prompted. He jerked and then started walking, not making eye contact with anyone. For a 37 year old man, he sure does act like a teenager upon occasion; a bit like Madoka I guess.

When we finally reach the airport exit, I noticed the bright sun outside. Due to the delicate nature of the skin on the left half of my face, I have to keep it out of direct sunlight, so have taken to carrying around a small umbrella. I also have to apply factor 50+ sun cream every day and again after any exposure to sunlight.

But my umbrella was not in my bag. It had to be in my suitcase.

"Lin, wait." I said as we reached the doors.

As I knelt down to open my case, I saw Mai reach into her bag and pull out her own black umbrella.

"Use this." She said, obviously needing no explanation.

"How did you know…?" I questioned, straightening up and taking it from her.

"Five years ago it became standard practice for all SPR branches to enforce a policy which meant all employees have to undergo basic first aid training." She explained. "Madoka thought it would be a good idea for me to do an extended course. Recovering 3rd degree burns have to be kept out of direct sunlight as the skin is so delicate."

As we started walking to wherever they parked the car, I wondered if she'd brought it on purpose. She'd obviously read the incident report as she knew they were 3rd degree burns. Though I suppose the damage done was severe enough not to be 2nd.

"I hope you two don't mind if Lin and I go out this evening?" Madoka asked as she started the car.

"Where are we going?" Lin asked from the passenger seat.

"Just dinner." Madoka said reassuringly.

"Actually I have plans for this evening." Mai said from beside me.

"Meeting Shinji again?" Madoka asked. Who was Shinji? Did Mai have a boyfriend? I would not be surprised.

"Yeah, he chose for us to go and see a movie I think; requires less talking." Mai said, rolling her eyes.

"Aww, bless. Perhaps this time he'll work up the courage to hold your hand before the end of the film." Madoka teased.

"Sometimes I wonder what he'd do if I just started snogging him in the cinema."

"Probably have a heart attack."

"I can deal with heart attacks." Mai pointed out. "I just wish he'd stop being so nervous around me."

It was like Lin and I weren't even there. The two women gossiped about this boyfriend of Mai's, who sounded rather pathetic if you ask me, the entire car journey.

When we arrived at their apartment, I left my belongings in the guest room as instructed and got myself familiar with the open plan layout. The main room consisted of a kitchen with island worktop and the living room. Down a corridor were the three bedrooms, the bathroom and a separate toilet. The flat was small, but the space had been used well.

"Mai, will you cook Noll dinner?" I hear Lin say from the living room.

"Can't he cook his own food?" She says, oblivious to me listening in from the corridor.

"Please Mai?" Lin begs, I'm curious as to why he doesn't give the reason. Surely it's obvious I want nothing to do with any hob. Lin reckons I am suffering from PTSD: post-traumatic stress disorder. Personally, I think he is over reacting; it hasn't been that long since it happened.

"Fine, but if he complains about my cooking ability I will throw food at him."

I heard Madoka laugh and decided it was time to make my entrance.

"Is your room alright Noll?" Madoka asked, she was sat on one of the sofa's with Lin. Mai was curled up on the other with a cup of tea.

"It's adequate." I replied. "How long are we staying here?" I address my question at Lin, but realised as soon as I spoke that he would want to stay with Madoka.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you want." Madoka replied. "Though you will have to contribute to bills and stuff. If you want to find your own place, that's fine by us."

I nodded. It's weird. I have been so used to having Lin live with me that it would be odd living without him. His constant required presence has become comforting I suppose. But now I don't need him.

I returned to my room and unpacked a few items. I would live here for a while, until things have settled down a little. Until I can face cooking for myself again.

I didn't realise I had fallen asleep on the bed until Mai knocked on my door and woke me up.

"Do you want dinner now?" She asked through the door.

"Yes." I said, sitting up and wiping my eyes blearily. It was now 7pm and I cursed for allowing myself to drift off. I hate jetlag.

I left my room and headed for the bathroom to wash my face. The cold water feels refreshing on the right half of my face. The left half feels nothing. All the nerve endings had been burnt out so I cannot feel a single thing. It's a weird sensation. Touching the skin and feeling it through my fingertips and from where it moves the surrounding healthy nerve-filled skin, but not feeling it in my face.

Mai is in the kitchen cooking when I make my way through. I took a seat on the far side of the island worktop, looking anywhere but the dancing flames under the wok.

"I can't be arsed to cook anything fancy so you'll have to make do with teriyaki stir fry and udon noodles." She said when she turned and saw me there. I didn't complain, stir fry was fine by me. "Madoka and Lin left half an hour ago. I'm being picked up at 8pm. Will you be alright by yourself?"

"Of course." I am a 27 year old man, not a child, why on earth would I not be okay?

"Good." She turned away to stir the contents of the wok. A few minutes later, she plated up and handed me mine with a pair of chopsticks. I remained at the worktop, but she took hers to the sofa and flicked on the TV.

I wondered briefly if she is avoiding me on purpose. She is definitely uncomfortable.

"Can I eat in my room?" I asked.

"As long as you clear up any mess you make, will you wash up?" She said in reply.

"Sure." I muttered, picking up my plate and retreating to my room. The food was good, she wasn't a bad cook. Then again, how hard was stir fry?

After I finished eating, I finished unpacking. There were hangers in the wardrobe and plenty of space for my books. I found my Japanese power socket adapter and plugged in my mobile and laptop to charge. The room looked better with a few things in it. It had been a bit clinical even for my tastes.

Mai knocked and opened the door just before 8pm.

"I've left the spare key on the kitchen counter if you want to go out for any reason. Help yourself to anything in the fridge or freezer except the chocolate ice cream. I will kill you if you touch my ice cream." She said, not making eye contact. I looked her up and down, she was dressed in a skirt so short I was surprised it covered everything, a close fitting top and dark denim jacket. "Don't give your opinion on my clothing choice; I really don't give a shit." She added, noticing where my eyes had fallen. I have definitely annoyed her somehow.

"It's not worth commenting on." I retorted.

"I'll be back at 11pm, don't wait up." She said, rolling her eyes. Then she left the room, closing the door behind her.

"What on earth did I do?" I muttered. Then picked up my plate and made my way to the kitchen to wash up. Thankfully, Mai had left the wok in the sink and her plate on the side. I knew I was avoiding looking at the cooker, but it was dangerously close to the sink in my opinion. If I didn't look, it couldn't bother me, I told myself. This sort of worked. I found my flinching away from it and felt anger bubbling inside me. There were no spirits here to possess the damn thing, why on earth was it bothering me?

I quickly finished the washing up and left the items to dry on the draining board. There was no point soaking a towel to dry them quicker. I took a deep breath and forced myself to look at the cooker.

The effect was almost instantaneous. In my mind's eye, I was trapped and the flames were flying at me. I staggered back and hit the island, which caused me to curse.

It was infuriating. Knowing that my mind just hadn't dealt with the trauma and yet not being able to hurry it up.

I decided to remove myself from the kitchen, the living room held no interest so I returned yet again to my room. I no longer felt sleepy and I felt too restless to read. The flashback in the kitchen had got my adrenaline pumping.

I decided to workout. Hopefully it would rid my body of the adrenaline and tire me out enough to sleep. I changed into some sport shorts and cleared some space. There were no weights, but I made do with bodyweight exercises.

While I worked out, I tried to figure out why Mai was pissed off at me. I had barely spoken a word to her, so it could not be something I had said. Unless it was something I hadn't said? There was no way she was still annoyed by what had transpired at the lake all those years ago. Nor could it be that she was aggravated by the fact I no longer looked like Gene, she saw him every time she astral projected.

I was so caught up in my thoughts and the rhythms my body was working through, that I did not notice how fast time had passed. I heard the door unlocking and almost jumped out of my skin. Trying to ignore my own annoyance at the stupid reaction, I noticed the time on the clock. It was just before 11pm.

"I should shower." I muttered, finding my towel and shower gel from the drawers where I'd put them. As I left my room, I could hear Mai talking to someone. Silently, I crept down the corridor until I could see her. She was talking animatedly to a tall thin man who was standing awkwardly just outside the flat.

"You should come in!" She encouraged. "Just for a drink or something." The man, who I deemed to be average looking, peered inside the flat as if scouting for danger. He spotted me and his face paled. I supposed I must look quite a sight. My toned torso was glistening with sweat and then there was the matter of my ruined face. Mai looked around and spotted me. "Ignore him." She said, turning back to the man, who looked away from me and back at Mai.

I watched as she moved closer to him, looking beckoningly up at him. His eyes kept flicking between her face and me. He looked slightly terrified.

"She wants you to kiss her, if you aren't coming in." I pointed out. The guy obviously needed help with women. Though it wasn't my area of expertise, I felt this much was clear.

"Shut up Naru." Mai turned and hissed at me. "Shinji, seriously, ignore him. Would you like to come in?" She said kindly to him, like someone coaxing a wild animal closer.

"Maybe I should just go." He said shyly. "I'll text you!" He added brightly, then practically ran from the apartment. Mai slammed the door and turned on me.

"What the hell was that?" She demanded. I moved further into the room, still clutching my towel and shower gel.

"Are you telling me you didn't want him to kiss you?"

"That is not the point! You had no right to go making everything awkward!" She yelled. This was more like Mai. I smirked, which caused her to yell even louder. "I spent all evening getting him to relax and you just turn up and ruin everything! I mean why aren't you even dressed?!"

"I thought I was supposed to make myself at home." I commented dryly. "Besides, he's not the sort of guy you want. Why are you bothering?"

"Excuse me?" She spluttered. "Who are you to go deciding what sort of guy I want?"

"Someone who knows that you could never have a serious relationship, sexual or not, with someone who won't even stand up to you." I pointed out. She started pouting at me. Bless.

"He's intelligent and sweet and not bad looking and unlike some people he doesn't scorn people for not knowing things." She yelled.

"Just because he puts up with ignorant fools, doesn't mean you really like him." I had yet to raise my voice; somehow my calm tone seemed to infuriate her even further. I had forgotten how much fun this was.

"I do like him!" She objected.

"Just keep telling yourself that." I look down at her; she's barely inches away from me. Her big brown eyes glaring up at me fiercely, despite the top of her head only just reaching my chest. "Yes you want someone intelligent." I step forward and she backs away. "Yes you want someone who cares." I step forward again and she continues to retreat. "Yes you want someone reasonably good looking." I keep moving. "But you don't want someone you can walk all over." She's flattened against the wall now and I stare down at her. A blush crept into her cheeks and I can hear her breathing faster. Is my being this close really having an effect on her? I decided to test the theory and bent down a little, so our noses were almost touching. "You need an equal Mai, not a doormat. Someone who will tell you when you are being an idiot; like now."

I never anticipated her reaction. She reached up and slapped me hard in the face with her right hand. Thing is, I can't feel the left side of my face, so my reaction was not perhaps what she had wished for.

"You bastard." She swore lowly.

"You know I didn't feel that." I pointed out, standing up straight again and smirking. She pushes past me angrily and storms down the hall into her bedroom; slamming the door behind her.

Chuckling darkly, I headed for the shower. Outside her room, I slowed to hear her cursing down the phone at someone. I hazarded a guess at Ayako.

As I showered, I thought back to the scene. I possibly shouldn't have pushed her so far so quickly. I'd ease off her tomorrow; let her cool down a little.

Little did I know that the following day, things weren't going to cool down.

**Author's note: The NHS is the National Health Service in the UK, its the healthcare provider for literally everyone and its free - yay! Just thought I should point that out for the non-UK people reading this. This was a really long chapter! So I hope you all enjoy it and REVIEW! I love hearing your thoughts!**


	4. Chapter 4: Mai

On Sunday morning, I got my wish. Shinji finally stood up to me.

"Mai." He started and an ominous feeling developed in my stomach. He'd phoned just before 10am, waking me up in the process. "I think we should stop seeing each other."

"Why?" I demanded, though I knew perfectly well what had put him off.

"Your housemate made me think. I don't know how to act around you and I'm not making you happy."

"Shinji, you do make me happy! I wouldn't have continued dating you if I didn't like you!" I pointed out, but I had a feeling this conversation was going to be like running uphill in roller skates.

"You said he hadn't seen you in ten years and he knew what you wanted better than I did."

"We've only known each other for a few months!" I argued. I refused to give up on the relationship because of Naru and his stupid opinions.

"Mai." He said and I could hear him breathing heavily down the phone. "It's over."

I didn't reply, I just hung up. I sat there angry in my bed for a good ten minutes before going to shower. I turned the heat up in the shower so hot it almost burned, but for some strange reason, it was soothing.

As I had no plans to leave the house that day, I put my pj bottoms back on and then found a clean t-shirt to wear. Somehow, I knew that he'd be in the living room before I even reached it. I wasn't wrong.

He was sat on the sofa, flicking through the channels on the TV. This was odd for two reasons. One, he was watching TV willingly. Two, he was wearing a T-shirt and lounge pants. I had never seen him in anything other than a black suit or his pyjamas. Admittedly his clothing choice was still black, but it was oddly casual for Naru.

"Mai, tea." He demanded, not even looking around. I headed for the kitchen and put the kettle on. I wanted a cup of tea; he wasn't going to get one.

I hummed to myself as I pulled out the leftover vegetables from last night. Fried vegetables with egg for breakfast? I knew I ought to steam some rice or something, but that seemed far too much like effort. I flicked the hob on and threw the veg into the wok, then pulled out two eggs from the carton in the fridge and waited for the pan to heat up.

It was at this point I had a wonderful idea. The kettle had just boiled so I grabbed two mugs and the box of tea. He would pay for making Shinji break up with me.

I was sure he wasn't watching me make the tea as he seemed to be avoiding the kitchen. I guessed he was still feeling a bit off about fire. Madoka and Lin entered the living room as I handed Naru his tea with the sweetest smile I could muster. He obviously didn't detect the danger in my smile, as he took a long drink from his cup.

"Aww you made him tea." Madoka said, happily. "I'm so glad you two are getting along."

"Well, I thought he'd like some tea with the saliva." Naru had just taken another sip of tea and spluttered noisily as he realised exactly what I had said. I returned to the kitchen and flipped the contents of the wok. It was definitely hot enough for the eggs now.

Madoka and Lin were evidently trying not to laugh. I had strategically placed my own tea close to the hob, so there was no way he would steal mine.

"I would offer you two breakfast, but I'm using left overs." I said to Madoka.

"It's fine, we'll cook something." She joined me in the kitchen and glances at Naru. "I guess we'll cook for grumpy over there."

"You'd be grumpy if someone spat in your tea." He muttered darkly.

"Well if you don't want saliva, you should use your manners." Madoka pointed out. "But Mai, you should deal with badly behaved children more maturely."

"I'm not his mother." I said.

"Thank fuck." Naru murmured angrily.

"And he made Shinji break up with me." I hissed. I tipped the cooked vegetable omelette mess onto a plate and joined Naru on the sofa; he was still flicking between the channels.

"Did he? Good. Serves you right for spitting in peoples tea." The fucking tea addict didn't seem to realise that if he hadn't been an arsehole, I wouldn't have spat in it. Perhaps next time I'll piss in it and not tell him. "Lin, pass that cup by the hob." He said. Fuck. I'd left my tea in the kitchen.

"Hey! That's mine." I pointed out between mouthfuls of my breakfast. But Lin had already handed it to Naru and he'd started to drink it.

"What do you mean Shinji broke up with you?" Madoka asked, sitting on the other sofa.

"I mean he rung me this morning, waking me up and told me he didn't think we were right for each other and that he didn't want to see me anymore." I said coldly. "Someone who obviously knows nothing about relationships decided to interrupt the end of my date last night and make everything awkward. So Shinji ran a mile." I added in explanation after Madoka's questioning look.

"I think you'll find that he's the one that knows nothing about relationships." Naru said lowly, so only I could hear.

"As if you've ever been in one." I hissed at him. Then returned to my breakfast. Perhaps I would go out today. "Do you two have any plans?" I asked Madoka. Lin was still in the kitchen, presumably cooking.

"Not really, I think we might just chill here, watch a film or something." Madoka said. "What about you?"

"Shopping." I decided on the spot. Friday had been payday and I definitely have enough for a shopping trip. Besides, isn't that what you're supposed to do after a breakup?

"I'll come with you." Naru said.

"I hadn't invited you."

"You only have to drive me there; I don't want to walk around with you." He rolled his eyes.

"I don't have to drive you anywhere." I could see Madoka out of the corner of my eye and she was definitely finding mine and Naru's little spat quite amusing. "Get the bus."

"I don't want to get the bus."

"Well sorry, but your ego won't fit into my car."

"I'm sure if your arse fits in, my ego will have no problem."

"Oliver!" Madoka reprimanded. "Behave."

"Ha." Triumphant, I poked him childishly. He'd got told off and I hadn't. He noticed my smirk and rolled his eyes.

"She didn't correct me." He observed.

"What?"

"She didn't say you didn't have a massive arse. She only scolded me for pointing it out."

"I do not have a massive arse." I don't! I don't have a massive anything!

"Sure." He agreed sarcastically. I stood up, taking my empty plate to the kitchen and washed it up.

"Are we eating dinner together Madoka?" I asked, as a dried up the plate.

"Can do." She replied. She was giving Naru a funny look. "Will you take this idiot to the shopping centre? So Lin and I can watch a film in peace?"

She just had to ask didn't she? She had to ask so kindly and otherwise be such a nice person. How could I refuse her?

"Fine."

"Oliver, if you give her a hard time, I will give you a hard time." Madoka said, like a mother talking to a small child. I returned to my room and started looking for something to wear. The weather was getting warmer now, but it wasn't quite hot enough for shorts. I pulled a pair of ripped jeans and a zip up hoodie from the wardrobe; that would do. You have to wear comfortable clothes for shopping, especially if you are going to be trying a lot of things on, which I certainly planned to do.

When I returned to the living room, Naru had also changed. He was now wearing fitted black jeans, a black shirt and a black jacket. I looked him up and down and sneered cruelly. Black. How original.

He didn't seem to care.

"I'll see you guys later, and no screwing on the sofa." I waved to Madoka and Lin and left. Parked behind the apartment block was my small blue two-seater city car. As Madoka had a larger car, useful for longer trips, I felt no need to buy a big car. We usually used my car for getting to and from the office, as it had a better fuel consumption.

I climbed in and dumped my handbag on the passenger seat, before remembering that Naru would need to sit there. He opened the door and looked pointedly at it. Sighing, I picked it up and stuffed it in the space behind my seat.

As I pulled out of my parking spot, Naru spoke to me.

"Madoka said I should apologise."

"For what?"

"Making Shinji break up with you and for saying you have a fat arse."

"But you're not sorry, so don't apologise." I muttered.

"I wasn't going to."

"So what was the point of…" I gave up. He was just trying to annoy me. Unfortunately it was succeeding.

"Your arse isn't that fat." He said and I turned the radio on in an attempt to get him to shut up. "I mean it could do…" But I drowned out the rest of his words by turning the radio up full volume and started singing along. I sang the entire way to the shopping centre. After I parked in the multi-story car park, I got out of the car and waited for him before locking it.

"I'll meet you back here when I'm done." I told him, then started towards the shops.

"And how am I supposed to know when you are done?"

"I thought you knew everything." I could hear him pacing behind me, but I didn't slow down.

"Can we agree on a time? Or will you give me your mobile number?" He asked, I thought I could hear a hint of worry in his voice.

"Nope." I stepped out of the car park and passed through the doors into the main shopping centre.

"Mai, don't be pathetic."

"I think you'll find that splitting up a couple for your own amusement is pretty pathetic." I pointed out. "Or was it just because you don't like being the only person alone?"

"Stop pretending that relationship was going to go anywhere." He said coldly and I could practically hear him rolling his eyes. I ignored the fact that he was correct and that my previous determination to stay in the relationship was purely to prove him wrong.

"Still pathetic."

"Still wasn't going anywhere." He grabbed my arm and spun me around. "Now either give me your number or agree a time to meet."

"Fine." I sighed. "3pm by the car. If you aren't there, I will leave without you." I pulled my arm out of his grip, turned on my heel and stalked off.

**Author's note: See now once upon a time I read a fic where Lin and Madoka were into kinky-ish sex. And now it's kinda canon in my head that those two are a bit kinky. I got a few reviews of the last chapter where people really liked Mai. I'm glad you liked Mai, I like Mai too. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it made me laugh to write it so I hope you all laugh too... Please review :) **


	5. Chapter 5: Oliver

I will never understand how women take so long when shopping. The only business I had in the shopping centre was to purchase something new to read. My choice was painfully limited as the English section of the bookstore was only three shelves. I knew I ought to learn enough kanji to be able to read Japanese books, but I couldn't help but think the writing system is somewhat ridiculous. Surely hiragana is enough? Even the presence of katakana is pointless. I sighed. Perhaps if I decide to stay here longer, I would put some effort into learning the symbols.

I managed to stretch my visit to the bookstore to half an hour. Leaving another two and a half hours of boredom. I briefly considered finding Mai and following her around but felt that might be pushing a bit too far. Then again, she did spit in my tea.

I mean seriously, who spits in someone's tea? It's just plain rude.

To think, I was going to ease up on her. It wasn't like I meant for the idiot to break up with her. Not that I am complaining, he wasn't right for her.

I decided to head to an electronics store; I had left my speakers in England and my laptop's speakers were nowhere near loud enough. Not that my usual music choice needed to be that loud. Madoka thinks I am a snob for listening to classical music. She doesn't understand that I like it as background noise. I can't stand people singing in music, unless I don't know the language as then I can ignore it. Music with vocals distracts my train of thought. Unless it's being blared at full volume through car speakers and being screeched by a dying cat – I mean sung by Mai. Then it's just painful.

As I browsed through the electronics store, I noticed the reactions of the other shoppers. It was much like being back at BSPR. There were a few looks of disgust, a few of pity and one or two curious stares from small children.

The overly helpful shop assistant who tried to advise me recoiled when I turned and they saw my face. It didn't bother me much, I knew I would have to get used to such looks from people as my face wasn't going to miraculously heal.

After brushing off the assistant, I settled on a small 2.0 speaker set; nothing fancy. That had wasted 20 minutes. Just over two hours left. I passed an estate agent, which was closed, but had pictures of nearby properties in the window. A few flats caught my eye, then I remembered that my salary was going to have decreased, though I was not sure by how much.

I thought back to how much I used to pay Mai, though the figure was ten years out of date, it would be a good place to start. My choice was now painfully limited considering I would not have a housemate. And no way would I invite a stranger to live with me.

Sighing, I turned away from the estate agent's window and spot a familiar clothing shop. I had not been able to bring everything from England. Perhaps some new clothes wouldn't be a bad idea.

I could practically hear my mother's nagging voice in the back of my head telling to pick something other than black. My clothes were all black, though initially as a sign of mourning for Gene, it became a habit. Black was practical, black went well with black and it didn't really ever look dirty.

I chose a few basic t-shirts in different colours and tried them on. I quickly decided that yellow was not my colour. However, the midnight blue looked alright as did charcoal grey. Both colours were admittedly dark, but they would go with my jeans. The dark red was also tempting; it brought out the scar on my face and made for an intimidating combination. Had my skin been a little more tanned, the white t-shirt would've looked good.

After paying for my choices, I was surprised how long it had taken. Had I really spent over an hour in the changing rooms? Was this why women took so long? Because they are agonising over colour choices?

I picked up a takeaway sushi pack for lunch, as I hadn't eaten anything yet that day. Sitting on a bench near the centre of the shopping complex, I ate slowly. I will admit to enjoying the stares I got off children and the reactions of their parents when they notice the staring. I made faces at a few of the little squirts. Their parents scold them for looking, which annoys me. Parents dampen their children's curiosity, which in turn stops them asking questions. How will the little squirts learn anything if they don't ask questions? I truly wonder sometimes if parents want stupid offspring.

20 minutes remaining.

I decided to get a coffee and then head back to Mai's car. I had made my order when an idea struck me.

Ten minutes later, I started walking to the car park. My shopping on one arm, my coffee in one hand and a hot chocolate for Mai in the other. It wasn't exactly an apology, but I figured it was a nice gesture.

I waited, lent against the bonnet of her car. She appeared five minutes later with a few bags of her own and looking very pleased with herself.

"Successful?" I asked, handing her the cup. She took it gingerly, as if I was handing her poison, and sniffed it.

"Yes." She replied tentatively and took a sip. "Thank you." She said, still looking suspicious. I waited until she unlocked the car and then put my bags in the tiny boot. I held my hand out to take hers and place them with mine and Mai handed them to me, now frowning.

"Something wrong?" I asked as I closed the boot and climbed in.

"Why are you being nice to me?" She asked, taking her seat behind the wheel and a swig of her drink.

"You are the only person in the last three hours that hasn't looked at me as if I'm a monster, despite being the only person that I have pissed off enough to legitimately call me a monster."

"I didn't think the opinion of sheep mattered to the lion."

"Doesn't make it any less tiring."

"What did you get?" She asked as she took another drink from her cup.

"A few books, some speakers and some shirts." I summarised. I knew we wouldn't be leaving until she'd finished her drink, so there was no point in not answering.

"Why do you even bother shopping for clothes? Why don't you just mass order black shirts?"

I finished my coffee before answering.

"I bought three coloured t-shirts actually." Mai spluttered and looked around quickly. She reached up and felt my forehead.

"Well you don't seem to have a temperature, are you feeling sick?"

I raised my eyebrow at her pointedly and she flinched away.

"Are you almost done?" I asked pointedly. I couldn't be too nice to her now could I?

"You can walk home if you want." She replied, draining the last of her hot chocolate and passing me the cup. I took it, as there was nowhere else to put it and she started the car. "Do you actually plan on wearing something that isn't black?"

"No, I thought I'd buy clothes and then never wear them." I replied sarcastically.

"I thought it was only insecure people that did that." She said, ignoring my sarcasm.

"I'd like to see you act confidently with half mashed up face."

"I'd like to see you act like a civil human being."

"I'd like to see you stop dating guys that are beneath you."

"I'd like to see you stop butting into other peoples relationships because your own are so obviously lacking."

"I'd like to see you not assuming my relationships are lacking."

"Really? You're telling me that even without a mashed up face, your winning combination of rudeness and snobbery actually won someone over? Someone with a brain, I might add."

"You didn't seem to mind so much ten years ago." I pointed out.

"I didn't realise I deserved anything better."

"Better how?" I asked.

"How about someone who would thank me for making them tea."

She just wouldn't let that go would she?

"Why would I have to thank someone for doing their job?"

"To show appreciation for their efforts."

"That they are paid to do."

"Stop pretending you don't like your work validated."

"I don't need my work validated."

"Oh I forgot; the great Oliver Davis is peerless. Is that why you got demoted?" I could hear annoyance in her voice. But she had definitely started the argument this time.

"I was demoted because I lost my abilities."

"So that makes you the same level as me then." She mused. "I have had the same training as you and oh, wait, don't I have psychic abilities which now far succeed yours. Doesn't that make me your superior?"

"No."

"I think it does. Maybe I shall order you around me make my tea."

"Stop trying to intimidate me Mai, it won't work." I pointed out. "Madoka won't let you order me about."

"Wanna bet?"

"She answers to my father."

"So?"

"So, she won't want to upset him, which would be done by upsetting me."

"But you don't get upset; the great Oliver Davis doesn't have emotions remember?"

"You're an idiot."

"Says the man who thinks he can just walk into a girl's life and change things because he doesn't like them." So she was still upset about her boyfriend dumping her.

"I thought we agreed he wasn't right for you?"

"I think you'll find, that you decided that."

"And you know I am right."

"I don't care what you think. Even if he wasn't right in the long term, I could have had some short term fun with him." I noticed her cheeks had gone a little pink.

"You wanted to fuck him?" Her cheeks blazed scarlet and I smirked. "It wouldn't have been very good."

"How on earth would you know that?"

"For the same reason that you would have made a couple. You would walk all over him."

"Maybe I like being in control in the bedroom." She said, still blushing furiously.

"No you don't."

"And how do you know what I like to do sexually?" She sounded rather indignant as she parked the car behind the apartment block. I hadn't realised that we were back already.

"Because if someone didn't hold you down and force you to enjoy yourself, you would spend your entire time pleasing them and never get a kick yourself." I got out of the car and collected the bags from the boot. Mai climbed out and locked the car before walking around to meet me, holding out her hands for her bags.

"I don't know how much you paid a girl to tell you that she wants you to be in control, but not every girl is like that. We all like different things." She snatched her bags and started walking.

"As if you've done anything beyond kissing a guy." I said, just loud enough for her to hear. "I mean if the last guy was anything to base your history off…"

"So you did have to pay a girl?" She called over her shoulder.

"I never said that." I said, following her.

"You never denied it."

"I didn't think I needed to dispute something so obvious. So have you not done anything beyond a kiss?"

"That's for me to know and you to wonder about when you're lonely at night."

I rolled my eyes.

Lin and Madoka were still curled up on the sofa watching films when we entered the flat.

"You two had fun?" Madoka asked.

"Do we have any duct tape?" Mai asked, dumping her bags down.

"Under the sink, why?"

"So I can tape that idiot's mouth shut." She said, nodding her head at me.

"Noll, what did you say to her now?" Madoka said, exasperatedly.

"Nothing that wasn't true."

"He told me all about the girl he had to pay to have sex with him." Mai said, switching the kettle on. Lin sniggered and I glared at him.

"At least I would have got what I wanted, as opposed to some people who settle for second best." I retorted.

"At least I can actually attract people without using my looks or fake smiles."

"Children, behave or I will send you both to your bedrooms." Madoka said, obviously trying not to laugh. "Now Lin and I were thinking we could have some English food tonight, soon as I haven't had it in ages. Is that okay with you both?"

I nodded and looked around at Mai, who was pouring herself some tea.

"Knives and forks. Goodie." She muttered darkly.

"I'll take that as a yes. Dinner is at eight." Madoka said, then turned back to the film.

Madoka's idea of English food turned out to be bangers and mash with peas, that were thankfully, not mushy.

I took one look at Mai struggling with the knife and fork in her hands and decided that sitting opposite her had been a good idea. I waited until Lin and Madoka weren't looking, then loaded my fork with peas and flicked them at her. One hit her right between the eyes and she sat back startled. My snigger alerted her to the fact I had been responsible for the flying pea and she glared at me.

She then loaded up her own fork to send some back at me, but Madoka saw her.

"Mai, that's really not how you use a fork…"

But Mai had flicked the peas.

"Oops." She said innocently. Several had hit me in the face, though I had only felt half of them. "I just haven't got the hang of these things."

I took a few bite of the meal, pausing before I retaliated. I piled a few peas on my fork again and quickly sent them flying at her, before taking another bite so that Lin and Madoka would not become suspicious.

I did not make eye contact with Mai, but concentrated on my food. Though a few seconds later I wished I had. When I looked up, I had a quick glimpse of Mai grinning wickedly before a splat of mashed potato hit me across the face.

"Mai!" Madoka squealed.

"I'm sorry! I just can't do these things!" She whimpered pathetically. I could hear Lin sniggering at me.

"It's alright." I said calmly. "She can't help being an idiot." I stood up, with the intention of walking to the kitchen to find something to wipe my face with. I was not going to let Mai win this food fight. Gene and I had many over the years and even without using PK, I always won. So before I left the table, I grabbed a handful of mash and as I walked past I smushed it into Mai's face.

At that point, all hell broke loose. Mai launched herself out of her seat, a mixture of mash and peas in her hand and attacked me with them.

"Mai! Stop it!" Madoka shouted over the ruckus.

"He started it!" Mai squealed. She had knocked me to the floor and was now attempting, rather weakly, to wipe the mash into my face. However, I had hold of her hands, so she couldn't really do much. I laughed at how weak she was and that seemed only to infuriate her further. "He flicked peas at me."

"And so you decided to flick some back?" Madoka asked, sounding like an overworked mother. "You can deal with this." She said to Lin, then took her empty plate and dumped it in the sink.

"Oliver, stop aggravating Mai." Lin said, obviously still amused.

"I didn't do a thing." I said innocently, then rolled Mai over, so I was on top of her. I used her own hand to wipe the mash she was holding into her own squealing face. "For someone who supposedly likes to be on top, you didn't really seem to know what to do." I whispered, so only Mai could hear me.

"Oliver, get off of Mai. The pair of you are clearing this up." Lin said. "I'm going to bed."

I released Mai and stood up. Madoka and Lin left, both shaking their heads and muttering quietly between them. Those two have spent half their lives telling me to lighten up and when I finally do, they mutter about me. I just can't win.

I looked down at Mai, who was still lying on the floor in a pile of mashed potato and peas. I took my seat again and picked up the lukewarm sausage with my fingers and began eating it.

"Mai, you have something on your face." I point out.

"No shit Sherlock."

"You know if this is how you behave around men, I'm not surprised you haven't got beyond kissing."

She sat up slowly, wiping the food mixture off of her face with her fingers and looking at the mess. There were peas all over the floor and there was mash embedded into the carpet.

Picking up her plate, which still had sausages on it, I knelt down and offered them to her. She took the plate and started eating.

"Who invented knives and forks anyway?" She asked rhetorically. "Don't answer that." She added, as if I would actually tell her.

"You should probably shower you know." I said. "You have mash in your hair."

"Going to wash it out for me?" She asked, teasingly.

"You want me to shower with you?" I asked, calling her bluff. A dull pink tinge crept into her cheeks and I smirked in satisfaction.

"You'd like that wouldn't you? I bet it'd be the closest you'd ever been to a naked female." She didn't back down and I wasn't about to admit she was right.

"You'd like it more; you seemed to enjoy me on top before."

"You must've paid that girl a lot if you can mistake discomfort due to having food mushed in my face for pleasure."

"We can repeat the position without the food if you like?" I offered, smirking and she rolled her eyes. "What? Scared you'd like it?"

"Let's just clear this up." She muttered after finishing her sausage.

"You didn't deny it." I said, standing up and heading to the kitchen for cleaning supplies.

"I didn't think we had to deny things that were blatantly not true. Or at least that's what you said earlier." She said, still sat on the floor.

It was odd. With almost anyone else, this sort of banter would be impossible. Yet with Mai? It was just natural. We might not have seen each other for ten years, but I was still comfortable around her. It was nice, feeling this at ease with someone.

I chucked a cloth at her and resignedly, she began to wipe up the mess. I found the dustpan and brush and began sweeping up stray peas.

After clearing up the mess, Mai headed off for a shower and I caught sight of my reflection in the mirror on the wall. I looked ludicrous. Mash had embedded itself in my hair and the cracks on my face. That, alongside the burn, made for an appearance that wouldn't have looked out of place in a B-rated Frankenstein movie from 30 years ago.

I waited outside the bathroom for Mai to finish. She stepped out a few minutes later, dressed in nothing but a towel. I let her pass and then entered the bathroom. I didn't really want to shower. So I stuck my head under the tap and tried to wash the mash out.

"Seriously, just shower." Mai said from behind me

I turned around and watery mash dripping down my face. She grabbed my arm and steered me into the shower cubicle, turned the temperature down and then switched the shower on.

"Mai." I said, as the cold water ran down me. "I am still fully dressed."

"Well that was stupid of you." She laughed, genuinely amused.

I started unbuttoning my shirt, then pulled it off and flung it over the top of the shower. Then started unzipping my flies.

"What are you doing?" She questioned.

"Undressing. What does it look like?" I paused in the action of undoing the button of my jeans.

"Naru, I'm stood right here."

"Yes you are." I agree.

"You can't just strip in front of me."

"Just watch me."

"Pervert."

"I think if you watched me that would make you the pervert." I undid my jeans and began pulling them down. Mai squealed and ran out of the bathroom, causing me to snigger. I finished stripping and grabbed the shampoo, extremely grateful for the freezing cold water.

**Author's note: This chapter unexpectedly got a lot longer than I thought it would! Thank you all for your reviews so far, they mean so much! I know Naru is a little out of character in this, but I think after 10 years it wouldn't be so difficult to believe that he would have lightened up a bit... Anyway, please review!**


	6. Chapter 6: Mai

When I woke on Monday morning, I was first up. Despite having showered before bed, I showered again. The day just wouldn't start right without a shower.

I didn't immediately realise that I wasn't alone in the main living area until I heard a whimper. I had just put the kettle on when I heard the noise coming from the one of the sofas. Curious, I investigated.

Curled up on the sofa under a thin blanket was Naru; fast asleep. I wasn't immediately sure why he was on the sofa and not in his own bed; but I suspected it had something to do with the paper thin wall between his room and Madoka's room.

I noticed him shiver in his sleep and gently touched his skin; he was cold. Quietly, I collected a blanket from my room and laid it over him. Then the kettle boiled and I went to make my tea. I made a cup for Naru and left it on the coffee table by the sofa. However, the noise of my setting the cup down made him open his eyes wide.

"Morning." I said, but he didn't seem to hear me. He was staring fixedly at a point on the wall with glazed eyes. "Are you alright?" I asked, concerned. He scrambled hurriedly out of the bed, still staring at something I obviously couldn't see. I was struck by the sudden thought that he, for some reason, couldn't hear or see anything other than what his eyes were fixated upon. He was standing, feet wide as if in a fighting stance. "Naru?" I said tentatively. He used his arm to shepherd me behind him, as if protecting me. His other hand was held out in front of him and he started backing away, pushing me back as well. Was he dreaming?

Then he let out a low grunt of pain and collapsed to the floor. I did my best to catch him but his weight to was too great. I managed to slow his descent, yet as he hit the floor, his eyes blinked rapidly.

"Mai?" He said questioningly, looking around and obviously confused. "What are you doing?"

I relayed what had happened as he climbed back on the sofa under the two blankets; he still felt cold.

"What was that?" I asked when I finished my explanation.

"Nothing." He said, snatching up the cup of tea from the coffee table.

"Was it a nightmare?"

"Something like that." He wasn't looking at me, but at the cup of tea now in his hands. I retreated to the kitchen and began making breakfast; steamed rice. We had little else in and needed to go food shopping.

Twenty minutes later, I poured a decent size helping into a bowl, then a slightly smaller portion into another. I grabbed some chopsticks and took the larger bowl to Naru.

"Eat." I said. He took the food without thanks and began eating, still staring somewhere into the mid distance. "Did they keep you up last night?"

He nodded.

"Did you try the ear plugs?"

He nodded again.

I sighed.

"Do you want to switch rooms?" I offered.

He shook his head.

"Well if you can't sleep in there then perhaps we should. You don't exactly fit on the sofa." I pointed out, but he didn't seem to be listening.

"Is there any more?" He asked a moment later. Though I was barely a quarter of the way through my own bowl, he had finished.

"Yes, it's in the rice cooker." I nodded toward the kitchen, then realised the rice cooker was adjacent to the hob. "Do you want me to get you some more?"

He nodded. I placed my own bowl down on the coffee table, took his and refilled it. He took it gratefully and began eating again. Not that I would admit it to anyone, I was rather worried about Naru. I understood his avoidance of the cooker; I imagine I would avoid them too. But I had never seen him so affected by anything before. All those cases we had been on all those years ago, he had been attacked by ghosts and had buildings collapse on him and yet he had brushed those off like nothing had happened.

When I had finished eating, I reached up and touched his cheek.

"You've warmed up a bit. You should go and have a hot shower."

"I can't." He said. "I'm not allowed hot water on my face."

"Then a hot bath."

"No time." He handed me his empty bowl and gathered up the blankets, only just noticing that one was mine. He looked around questioningly.

"You were shivering."

"What should I do with it?"

"Dump it in my room." I took the bowls to the kitchen and washed them up. It was still early, but Madoka and Lin should be waking soon if we are to be on time to work.

"Mai?" I turned to see Naru standing in the entrance to the corridor. "Don't tell them."

There was a look of earnest fear in his eyes. It was odd, that even though half his face was burnt, I could still read the expressions in his eyes.

I nodded. If it was just a one off nightmare, something not wholly unexpected, then there was no point worrying Lin or Madoka.

A few hours later and we were setting up desks for Lin and Naru in the office. Lin had gone out and bought two new desks with matching swivel chairs for the pair of them. I had been keeping an eye on Naru all morning, he seemed cold and distant – like usual. Yet behind his icy façade, I could still sense the fear I had seen in his eyes earlier. The nightmare was obviously bothering him.

At lunchtime, Ayako popped around on her lunch break. I had told her about Naru's face, but she was still shocked by it. I could see her studying it with a medical interest as we chatted. I wanted to ask her about what was happening with Bou-san, but she looked too cheerful for me to mention something that would obviously upset her.

"Oh that reminds me!" She said suddenly, looking back around at me. "I think I have found a potential psychic that I think you ought to check out."

"Who?" I asked, interested.

"I was doing rounds this morning at a local orphanage." She explained. "One of the kids, she wouldn't let anyone touch her. At first I thought she was just being awkward. But after talking with her, she told me that when she touches things, she sees stories behind them. And she didn't want to touch me because she didn't want to see something horrible."

"You reckon she can do psychometry?" I probed.

"I think it would be worth checking out. Poor kid doesn't seem to be able to control it if she can." Ayako said. "I'll email you the address later, just turn up and say I referred her to you. I mentioned to them that I might."

"Why is it there are all these psychics and people with abilities in orphanages…?" I mused quietly to myself. "It's like no one in the field has a great upbringing or a stable family."

Ayako left not long after that, and I put the proposal to Madoka who seemed keen on the idea.

"If you and Noll go and investigate it this afternoon, Lin and I will go food shopping." She said. "Is there anything you want?"

"I think we are going to need more tea."

Madoka laughed and added that to the post-it note she was making a list on.

"If I drive you back now, you can pick up your car." Madoka said. "Then you can take that to this orphanage, we'll take my car to the supermarket."

At 4pm that afternoon, I climbed into my car to drive myself and Naru to the orphanage. I had phoned ahead and they told me that any time after four would be acceptable as the children would be back from school. It was a 15 minute drive away.

"Do you want the radio on?" I asked. He jumped at the sound of my voice and shook his head. "Is there anything I can do?"

He shook his head again and I began to drive.

It was so odd, the change in him since the day before. Yesterday he was laughing and throwing food at me, now he was cold and distant and almost timid. Something was definitely wrong.

I never thought I would say this, but I preferred him pissing me off.

When we arrived, I parked, but prevented him getting out straight away.

"I don't know what's up with you, but if you want to talk about it, I'm here." I said, not looking at him.

"I'm fine." He muttered, then got out of the car. I followed, shaking my head.

"Shibuya Kazuya." Naru introduced himself in the reception of the orphanage. "This is Taniyama Mai. We are with SPR, we are here to see Souma Takako."

"Excellent, wait right here." The receptionist exited though another door, leaving us waiting. We stood in silence for a few minutes before Naru spoke.

"I appreciate what you said before." He said stiffly. But before anything more could be said, the receptionist returned.

"She's in her room right now, so if you would like to come this way." We followed her up a flight of stairs and along a long corridor. "We can't allow you to be alone in the closed room with her, so please leave the door open." She said and gestured to the door. "Please let me know when you're leaving."

I entered first. The room was small and bare. A few hand drawn pictures were stuck up on the wall but everything else about the place looked uniform.

"Hello." I said kindly to the little girl, who was sat on her bed, hugging her knees. She was peering out at us from under a long black fringe. "Are you Souma Takako?" She nodded. "I'm Taniyama Mai, but you can call me Mai if you like. This is my colleague, Shibuya Kazuya." I gestured behind me at Naru.

"Are you from the crazy hospital?" She said quietly.

"No, we're friends of your doctor, Matsuzaki-sensei?"

"The psychic people?" She stumbled over the pronunciation of 'psychic'. "Do you believe me?"

"Will you tell us about what happens?" Naru said and stepped forward.

"Why is your face like that?" The little girl asked.

"An angry ghost attacked me."

I didn't expect him to be so honest about it in front of a child. Takako opened her mouth wide and gaped at him.

"Why did it attack you?"

"Because I was preventing it from hurting a little girl."

Takako knelt forwards on her bed and peered fascinated at Naru, I stepped back, letting him handle this.

"So you're like a knight in shining armour?"

I hid my snigger behind my hand.

"If you like." Naru said, crouching down so he was on the same level as Takako.

"Is she your princess?" Takako pointed at me.

"No." Naru said.

"But she looks like a princess."

"Looks can be deceiving." Naru replied quickly and I coughed pointedly. "Will you tell me about what happens to you?"

"When I touch things, things that aren't mind, I go all dizzy." She said thoughtfully. "Then it's like a video playing in my head. And I see things to do with the person that owns the thing. And I asked one of the carers about things I saw and I got told off and told to stop making things up."

"Does it happen every time you touch things?" I asked. She shook her head.

"Just sometimes. But sometimes I see things that aren't nice. Or that are really icky."

"Like what?"

"Like I saw one of the carers kissing a man and they didn't have any clothes on!" She held her hand over her mouth, as if what she was saying was dirty.

"Does it happen more when you are upset or angry?"

Takako nodded.

"And you'd like it to go away?" Naru asked. She nodded again. "If we came back another day and helped you stop it, would that be okay?" The little girl nodded yet again.

Naru stood up and turned to me.

"We have to help her." He said quietly, then turned back to Takako. "Are you happy here? In the orphanage? Do they treat you well?"

"Yes, all my friends are here!" Takako said. "I don't see things from my friends stuff much, it's worse with strangers. Like if I touched your things, I bet I'd see you save that girl from the ghost." She said to Naru, her face a mask of terror. "But that sounds scary; I don't want to see that."

"Well you don't have to touch anything I own." Naru said. "We'll see you soon okay?"

"Okay. Can I go back to the play room now?"

"I don't know." I said. "The receptionist didn't tell us."

"We'll ask on the way out." Naru said and made for the door. I followed and we left the orphanage after a brief exchange with the receptionist.

"So you think the girl is legit?" I asked, once back in the car.

"Yes. The things she described are very similar to my own experiences. I will help her." He said.

"Why did you ask if she was happy there?"

"Because as soon as we let SPR know she has abilities, they will want to snap her up. They will take her away from a normal childhood."

"Like they took you and Gene?"

"No, we were taken from a shithole of an orphanage. We were given a life. She would be taken from everyone she knows and forced into testing and using her abilities to find missing people. Something I have many enemies from refusing to do. She's better off being taught to control it and left where she's happy." He said. "We wanted to learn about our abilities, she just wants them to go away. She can always contact us if she wants to know more when she's older."

I nodded and started the car. We drove in silence back home. We explained our plan of returning to teach Takako how to control her abilities and Madoka fully agreed.

"Perhaps we should get the company to sponsor her." She mused.

"No."

"Noll, we could give her a much better life than in that orphanage." Madoka said.

"You would be taking her away from her friends, from a chance at a real family." I retorted. "She's eight years old and doesn't need that kind of upset."

"But she could help so many people! Think what she could do for the advancement of the field!"

"No." Naru said again, not backing down.

"Noll it is not up to you to decide what is best for that child."

"Nor is it up to you." Naru said, raising his voice. Lin appeared in the doorway, looking concerned.

"Madoka, with all due respect, you did not meet her." I said reasonably. "She is too young to understand any of it. By all means, we should keep an eye on her and maybe when she is older, then offer her more training."

Madoka looked at me, then at Naru.

"Fine." She said finally. "Lin's cooking dinner, should be ready at 8pm."

I decided to change into something comfier, so returned to my room and slipped on my pyjamas and an old t-shirt. I pulled my laptop off my desk and slouched onto my bed.

I was just opening up an internet browser when Naru entered my room and shut the door behind him. He had also changed into lounge pants and a t-shirt.

"Hello." I muttered.

"You stuck up for me." He stated.

"I stuck up for what was right for that little girl." I corrected.

"What're you doing?" He asked, gesturing at my laptop.

"Looking for somewhere to live." I replied. Now that Lin was back and staying in Japan for an extended period, he and Madoka would want to live together permanently. Naru was planning to move out and I didn't fancy being a third wheel; which meant I had to find a new place.

Naru sat on the end of my bed and I rolled my eyes at him. I patted the bed beside me and he took the hint.

"Found anything suitable?" He asked, peering over my shoulder.

"Only just started looking." I was filling in the filters on a property site.

"How much do I earn now?"

"Assuming it's the same as me? Three million yen a year." I replied. "It's enough to live on, but life is going to be less comfortable without a flatmate." I added sourly.

"That's…" He paused to think. "Just under £16k. That's barely anything. BSPR employees get more than that."

"But as we are a separate branch that doesn't bring in as much income or useful data, our salaries are less." I explained.

"That's stupid."

I shrugged, there was nothing we could do about it. We sat there, browsing apartments online until dinner was ready.

There were no food fights today. Then again, it's kind of hard to flick noodles at people with chopsticks.

That night, when I was getting ready for bed, Naru stuck his head through the doorway.

"They are doing it again." He said. "Do they not realise we can hear them quite clearly?"

He sounded annoyed, though I suppose I would be if someone was keeping me awake.

"Come in." I said, and he did, shutting the door behind him.

"You can't hear them in here." He said.

"Nope." I agreed. I set the alarm on my phone and plugged it in. When I looked around, he was still standing just inside the doorway dressed in his pyjamas, watching me. The look of fear I had seen that morning had crept back into his eyes. While I was still pissed at him for making Shinji break up with me, I felt for him. The nightmares were bothering him. "Do you snore?" I asked, sighing.

"No, why?" He was frowning.

"You can sleep here." I said, turning on the light by my bed. I flicked the switch for the main light off, so the room was filled with a dull glow.

"With you?"

"Well it's a double bed; you can have one side without interfering with my sleep. It'd be comfier than the sofa." I said resignedly.

"Are you sure?" He asked; he hadn't moved a muscle as I climbed into bed.

"If you don't decide soon, I will retract the offer." I squished my pillows into a comfier position and lay down. "Well?"

"But I was a jerk to you."

"Yes you were." I agreed. "But you're suffering from nightmares as a result of your trauma and having to listen to those two fuck isn't going to help that. I won't pick on someone having mental issues, even if they were a jerk to me." I am too nice. "But don't for one moment think I won't get you back when you are feeling better."

I saw him smirk slightly before he moved around to the other side of the bed. I rolled over, so I was facing away from him as he climbed in beside me. This was weird.

"Mai?"

"Yes?"

"Turn the light off."

"Jerk." I heard him snigger as I turned the light off. This was very weird.

**Author's note: I'm sure I had something really interesting to tell you all here, but I've forgotten it so please review!**


	7. Chapter 7: Oliver

I was staring at wall of monitors, looking for anything out of the ordinary. I was vaguely aware of Lin sitting next to me. The rest of the room looked slightly fuzzy, as if my eyes wouldn't focus on them.

Then a sudden light drew my attention. There was trouble in the kitchen. Lauren was stuck. I jumped up and pelted out of the door. But the kitchen door was closed and wouldn't budge when I twisted the handle and rammed my shoulder against it.

Without thinking, I called forth my PK. The air around me crackled with electricity as I blasted the door. There was no handle left and the door pushed open easily. I rushed inside and grabbed Lauren, who was shrieking at tendrils of fire issuing from the cooker. Pushing her behind me, I started back towards the door.

But it had closed. The handle had wasn't right. A snake of flame whipped out and seemed to grab my by the face; pushing me to the floor. This wasn't right. When I looked up through my own pain, the arms of fire had caught Lauren and she was burning.

"NOOOO!" I screamed, sitting bolt upright. I looked around wildly. Mai was peering at me blearily from her side of the bed. She flicked the light on.

"Naru?"

I was panting, as if I had just sprinted a marathon. Sweat was dripping down my face and my heart was racing. Mai sat up beside me and reach out a tentative hand. It took a great amount of self-control not to flinch away from the contact.

"Naru?" She tried again. I looked around. "It was just a dream okay?" I nodded, still amazed how kind she was being to me. "Do you… Do you want a hug?" She asked quietly and I stared at her. Honestly? Yes. I would have loved to press my face into her chest and have her embrace me and stroke my hair. The thought seemed relaxing and safe. But this was Mai, so I shook my head.

"I'm going to get a drink." I got out of bed and went to retrieve a glass of water. It was a little before 4am and I cursed myself for waking Mai up. I shouldn't've stayed in her bed. Yet the idea of not being alone had been so tempting.

I needed my own place, and fast. I returned to Mai's room, she was still sat up in her bed, waiting for me.

"You should sleep." I said.

"So should you." She responded. But I didn't want to sleep. When I slept the nightmares came. Not every day, just more than I'd like. And I never knew what brought them on. I climbed back into the bed and lay down, staring at the ceiling.

Mai switched the light off and I just laid there in the dark. Then a small hand snaked behind my neck and pulled me closer. Mai had drawn me in so my head was resting on her chest; she had her arms around me. The good side of my face was pressed against her and I could feel the warmth of her body. I had never lain like this with someone. Slowly, I moved an arm so it rested on her stomach. She felt so small and delicate. I bet, if I had tried, my hand would have spun her entire width.

"Go to sleep." She whispered and pulled the duvet up around us so that it cocooned me. I felt oddly safe. I closed my eyes and drifted into a thankfully dreamless sleep.

We woke with the alarm, which Mai prompted turned off. Yet we lay there together without moving for a few minutes before she spoke.

"Sleep okay?"

"Yes."

"If you tell Madoka and Lin about this, I will skin you alive." She said quietly. "And Yasuhara will help me hide your body."

"How?"

"He's a police detective."

It made sense, he had great research skills. He could find out anything if he wanted to.

"It comes in handy actually. If a possessed client does something stupid, the rest of the police force wouldn't believe it was due to supernatural phenomena, but Yasuhara can usually wiggle them out of trouble." Mai told me. "We should get up." She added and reluctantly, I moved away from her. "Go and shower, I'll make breakfast."

I did as I was told. When I had dressed and made my way to the living area, a plate of steaming food and a fresh cup of tea were waiting for me. Mai brushed past me to go and shower herself. Mai's tea had always tasted better.

That morning, I convinced Madoka to give me a few hours off as I had very little real work to do. I rung up a local estate agent and asked to see any cheap one bed flats they had available immediately. It took me twenty minutes to walk to the estate agent as I could not yet use the company van. It would be another week until I was on the insurance, despite having my International Driving Permit. If I planned on staying in Japan I would have to retake my driving test here, but it wouldn't be hard to pass, as they drive on the same side of the road as in the UK.

An unfortunate looking young man took me to several properties, iterating the advantages of each.

"This next property is a new build block of flats designed for the modern professional." He told me as we entered a tall block of flats. "It's admittedly small, but for a single man such as yourself, I think it will be perfect."

The apartment was compact, consisting of three rooms: a kitchen-living space, a bathroom and a bedroom. But the real selling point for me was the single hob – it was electric. No fire.

"I need to move in tonight." I said, as I finished viewing the property.

"So suddenly?" He asked, looking slightly shocked.

"Yes. I can fill out the relevant paperwork now." I replied coldly. The flat was clean and affordable and most importantly, it would give me somewhere to sleep without noisy neighbours.

Filling in all the relevant forms took an hour. It was painfully tedious and repetitive.

"We need a signature from a guarantor." The estate agent told me. I had paid the security deposit and the first month's rent from my savings.

"I shall call someone round now." I called Madoka and explained, she turned up five minutes later, signed the forms and it was settled. I was handed my keys and we left. Madoka drove me back to the office.

"You didn't have to leave so soon." She said resentfully in the car.

"I did if I wanted to sleep." I replied harshly and she blushed guiltily.

"You should have said something Noll."

"Because a conversation that started 'stop fucking so loudly' was going to be a pleasant experience."

"I'm sorry we made you feel unwelcome." She said after a few minutes silence. "Do you want help moving your stuff?"

"I will need use of a vehicle."

When back at the office, I settled into my chair before Madoka emailed me.

**I have enclosed a document, please translate and send to Martin.**

Translation. Wonderful. I opened the document; it was full of kanji.

I left my desk and barged into Madoka's office.

"Why have you set me translation work when you know full well I cannot read kanji?" I demanded.

"Oliver, the working language of this business is Japanese, you really need to get up to scratch with kanji."

"Give the translation to Lin."

"He's busy."

"Doing what?"

"Upgrading the computer systems."

"Let us swap."

"No, he knows far more than you about the system." Madoka said.

"Then you can do the translation!" I burst out; I could feel anger bubbling inside me.

"No. I am sorting out the accounts." She said. "Oliver, you will go and do that translation. If you get stuck reading the kanji, you can use a dictionary or ask Mai. I am sure she will help you if you ask her politely." She stood up from her desk, grabbed a kanji dictionary from one of the shelves and passed it to me. "Japanese students know 2136 kanji before they leave school, you need to catch up."

Annoyed at my own inadequacy in this area, I stormed out of the office and slammed the door behind me. Once at my desk, I opened up a word processing package and set the screen up to show the document I was to translate on one side and what would be my translation on the other.

It took me ten minutes to translate the title.

Kanji dictionaries are great things, and considering how stupid symbols kanji are, they are well organised. It's done by stroke order. However there are thousands of the bloody things and a tiny mistake early on while looking one up leads you down completely the wrong path.

It wasn't until she set the cup of tea on my desk and drew up a chair, that I realised Mai had left her own desk.

"Want some help?" She offered, looking slightly amused.

"Because you can speak any English at all."

"_Hello!_" She said.

"Yeah, keep going…" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"_My name is Mai. I am 26 years old. I live in Japan._" She reeled off then pointed to the screen. "_Computer._"

"It is basically the same word." I pointed out then took a sip of tea. "You're such an idiot."

"Then have fun with that dictionary." She said, pushing her chair back to her own desk. "But I wrote that document and it contains some newer scientific kanji which I doubt are in that dictionary."

I just glared at her and she smiled sweetly back.

"Fine." I muttered lowly.

"Fine what?" She asked pleasantly though there was a wicked grin on her face.

"You can assist me."

"I know I can." But she didn't move. She was going to make me ask her for help.

"You can't do it from there." I wasn't going to give in so easily.

"I know." She turned back to her own screen and began reading something.

I glared at her. I knew she could see me out of the corner of her eye because she was smirking.

"So move over here."

"Why?"

"So you can assist me."

"Didn't think you wanted my assistance, I thought I was too stupid."

"Fine, you're not stupid."

"I know that." I could tell she was enjoying this too much.

"Mai."

"Yes Naru?"

"Come here."

"Why?"

"To assist me."

"No."

"Why?" I asked exasperatedly.

"You haven't asked me to." She still wasn't looking at me. I took a deep breath to calm myself.

"Will you help me?" I growled.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that?" She looked around. Damn that smile of hers.

"Will you help me?" I said, slightly louder. She thought about it for a moment.

"No."

"What? Why?" I spluttered.

"You forgot something." She meant the word 'please'. I rolled my eyes.

"Please."

"Please what?" Seriously. She was enjoying this too much.

"Please will you help me?" I said, scowling.

"Of course!" She said sweetly and shuffled back over. And so together we translated the document. She read out the Japanese sentences and I wrote down the English. It still took us an hour or so, but it would have been a lot slower using the damn dictionary.

"Madoka told me you are moving out tonight?" She asked me, looking down at her lap.

"Yes."

"Oh." She sounded almost disappointed. "Is that what you were doing earlier?"

"Yes, I didn't see any point not to sort it out as soon as possible."

"Of course." She said. "So now I am a lone third wheel." She returned to her desk. Of course, she wasn't upset about me leaving. She was upset because she didn't want to be left alone with the happy constantly-fucking couple. I felt a strange pang of disappointment at that.

Mai's mobile started ringing a second later and she answered it swiftly after checking caller ID.

"Yasuhara? What's up?" I watched as a look of horror crept over Mai's face as she listened. "I'll be there as soon as I can." I looked at her questioningly, but she ignored me and rushed to Madoka's office. "Bou-san is in hospital, I'm leaving." She said simply and started towards the door.

"Mai, we only have one car!" Madoka rushed to her own office door.

"Then I'll walk." And she left.

**Author's note: So has now replaced facebook as my automatic website for the 'f' key on google chrome. Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8: Mai

The hospital was about five minutes away by car, which made it a half an hour walk. I made it in twenty, though I am 100% sure how. Yasuhara was waiting for me in the foyer and he escorted me up to Bou-san's room.

"Does Ayako know? What's wrong with him?" I badgered the poor man with questions as we walked.

"From what the doctors have told me, he has been severely drugged." Yasuhara said, in business-like manner. "They suspect that it's possibly happened repeatedly over the course of almost a week. His liver and kidneys are suffering a bit. He was found by the side of the road, presumably dumped there. We are unsure yet whether it was self-inflicted."

"But Bou-san would never do drugs!" I replied. "He barely even drunk!"

"And I informed you first, I know they have been having issues, so thought you'd know what was best." Yasuhara said, slipping out of Detector Inspector mode.

"It had only been stupid fights before last Friday." I told him. "Over stupid things like the washing up, then last Friday, Ayako saw him kissing another girl, but…"

"But if he had been drugged that would change everything."

"Is he going to be okay?" I asked quietly, Yasuhara drew me into a hug which I accepted gratefully.

"The doctors don't know yet, but he's fighting. It's just a matter of time."

We entered Bou-san's room. He was lying, covered in tubes and looking deathly pale.

"I should phone Ayako." I said. Yasuhara nodded so I pulled out my phone and dialled. "Ayako? Where are you?"

"At home." She replied, not sensing the urgency in my voice.

"Bou-san is in hospital."

"I don't care."

"He was found in the street after being drugged. The doctors think he's been drugged for a number of days."

"What?" I could hear the shock in her voice.

"I think you should come, Ayako. He might not have been in control on himself on Friday and Yasuhara said he might not make it…" I trailed off, hoping against hope that she would agree. I held my breath.

"I'm on my way."

I hung up. Yasuhara guided me to the chairs beside the bed and we sat in silence for a while, just staring at Bou-san.

"Is it true Naru's face is all burnt?" Yasuhara asked. I didn't bother asking where he found this out. This man just knew things.

"Yes, it's healed now, but it looks like it's been melted and then played with."

"Boss not looking too handsome then." He said gravely.

"Oh I don't know, he still looks…" I cut myself off realising what I was about to say.

"Still looks what?" Yasuhara pounced on my mistake.

"He looks fine." I said, then hurriedly continued. "Madoka said he's no different. But I think he is, he's still intelligent, confident and very sharp but I think he's lost his coldness a bit."

"The fire warmed him up." Yasuhara said, sounded amused. "Mai, you're blushing."

"What?" I put my hands up to my cheeks. "No I'm not! Why would I be blushing?!"

Yasuhara was laughing at me now.

"You might not have been before, but you are now." He said. "How long as he been back?"

"Since Saturday."

"He's been back four days and you're already falling for him again."

"I am not falling for him again!" I exclaimed. "He made Shinji break up with me!"

"Good, you can do way better." Yasuhara nodded approvingly.

"Don't you start on me as well! I had Naru being a jerk all bloody weekend."

"You are too cute." He teased.

"I hate you. I had hoped you'd help me hide his body when I finally snap and kill him." I pouted at him and he laughed.

"Mai, I would always help you hide the body." He said. "But I think 'snap and kiss him' is more likely."

"I told you! I am not falling for him again!" I was trying hard not to shout at him. It was like he had taken lessons from Naru on how to piss me off.

"Oh, so you loved him all along?"

Before I could reply, Ayako burst into the room and stared at Bou-san. The jovial atmosphere had died as she entered the room.

"Ayako?"

She ignored me and rushed to the chart on the end of his bed. I watched her read it, muttering to herself.

"They've done everything right." She said finally. "We have to wait for him to recover."

Yasuhara told her everything he had told me, back in Detective Inspector mode. Ayako nodded at what he said and sat down beside me.

"Visiting hours end soon." Yasuhara said quietly. "Do you need a lift back?" Ayako shook her head, but I gratefully accepted. "I need to speak with the doctors, please excuse me."

"Mai? Do you think he was drugged when…?"

"I think it's very likely. I mean that's not like him at all is it?" I said reassuringly. "I know he's an idiot and everything but he's not cruel…"

"It's just everyone's so young in the music industry and his band is getting bigger and I thought that he'd want someone younger and…" She started to cry. I put an arm around her.

"Oh Ayako, you muppet. He still wouldn't cheat on you. Even if he did want someone else, he's not so much of an arse not to break up with you first."

"But we kept having all those fights!" She wailed. "I kept thinking…"

"Every couple has fights Ayako."

Yasuhara re-joined us.

"I'm sorry, but we have to leave now." He said sadly. "I have given them your contact details and they will phone if anything happens." He added to Ayako, who nodded and wiped her eyes.

Yasuhara walked us both out and Ayako to her car.

"Call me if you need me." I told her, she nodded and drove off. "So you were giving me a lift?" I prompted.

"Of course, your chariot awaits." He led me to his car.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" I offered as he started up the engine. "I'm sure I could persuade Madoka to cook extra."

"That'd be great. It'd be leftovers for me otherwise."

I phoned Madoka and she readily agreed.

"All sorted." I beamed at him.

"Excellent." He grinned wickedly back. "Perfect opportunity to observe you and Naru."

"There's nothing to observe." I scowled at him.

"I'm sure not dear." He replied patronisingly. "You don't care for him at all do you?"

"No."

When we arrived, Madoka was just setting the table.

"Perfect timing, Mai, go and find Noll would you? Yasuhara, take a seat."

I glared at Yasuhara before heading to Naru's room. When I entered, he had just zipped up his suitcase, which was sat in the middle of the floor, with a few bags either side of it.

"Oh, I forgot." I mumbled. He was moving out already. He looked up at me expectantly. "Madoka says dinner is ready. Yasuhara is here."

"Why?"

"He gave me a lift back from the hospital." I thought about warning Naru, but decided against it. I didn't want both of them ganging up on me. "I invited him for dinner."

"After a new boyfriend already?" He shot at me.

"I would never date Yasuhara." I replied tiredly. "It would be like dating a brother."

"Yeah, you prefer other people's brothers." He muttered lowly, so I only just heard it. What was he on about?"

"What?"

"Nothing, come on. Dinner." He pushed past me out of the room. What had I done now? I followed him slightly confused. It was only as I took my seat at the dinner table, that I wondered if he had meant Gene. Did he still think I had loved Gene? I mean, I do love the guy but it's the same love as I have for Yasuhara, he's like a big brother. They both are really. All the SPR gang were my family. Bou-san was my father, Ayako and Madoka tied for the position of mother. Gene and Yasuhara were older brothers, John and Masako were younger siblings. Lin was like a weird uncle. And Naru…? I don't know where he fit in.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten how to use chopsticks." Naru hissed at me. I had been staring at my food for a few minutes, deep in thought. I ignored him, and started eating.

Madoka was talking to Yasuhara about something, but I couldn't really concentrate on the conversation. My mind was flicking between worry for Bou-san and my feelings towards Naru. Bou-san would be alright. He had to be. Ayako needed him. And I don't know if I really did ever get over Naru. Now he was here, and teasing me as before. I remembered the time he saved me when I fell down into that sewer and had cheered me up with a pet coin. The playful side of him I had seen there was often present now. It was a side of him I liked.

I could feel myself blushing. Hurriedly, I returned to my food.

At some point in the meal, Naru asked Yasuhara if he was passing by an area of town on his way home; presumably where his new flat was. Yasuhara had replied that it wasn't far out of his way and that he'd happily give Naru a lift.

It all happened very quickly after that. One minute I had just finished eating. Then Yasuhara was carrying Naru's bag down to the car. Then they were gone.

I returned to my room and changed into my pyjamas. After going to the loo, I peered in Naru's room. I knew I should strip the sheets to be washed, so they were clean for the next guest.

A strange sense of sadness settled in my chest as I set about removing the duvet cover from the duvet. As I finished balling up the dirty laundry, I spotted a black lump in the corner. It was one of his t-shirts. I added it to the pile to be washed and headed back to my own room; I had some clothes to wash. I would return his t-shirt clean tomorrow.

I set the washing machine off before heading to bed. But when I shut my bedroom door behind me, I spotted the t-shirt again. It had fallen out of the pile of laundry. I picked it up and instinctively sniffed it. It smelt like Naru and the aftershave he wore. I smiled at the smell.

I still had it in my hand when I climbed into bed and turned my light off.

It had never been how he'd looked. Or that he had saved me on so many occasions. Or that he'd given me a job that I had desperately needed. It had been that he'd always pushed me to better myself.

As I fell asleep, still clutching his t-shirt, I realised with a heavy heart that I had never gotten over him because no one else had given me what I needed. I needed someone intelligent and caring, but most importantly, I needed an equal – not a doormat. I needed someone who would tell me when I was being an idiot, like now.

I needed Naru.

**Author's note: Aww this made me sad to write. I think all the character's need hugs. Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9: Oliver

The first night in my new apartment was rather dull. I had a really bad cup of tea; I had long ago learnt that making it myself didn't end well. But it was hardly as if I could just phone up Mai and tell her to bring me one. I don't know how my tea tastes different, I mean all you have to do is put the teabag in hot water and wait, then fish it out. There had to be some secret to it that no one had told me.

I spent the rest of my evening browsing online for books. The ones I had bought at the weekend hadn't lasted long and I was eager for something new.

That night I was fortunate; no nightmares. So I felt well rested when I arrived at work the next morning, despite having to walk the entire way there. It wasn't a long walk, only 30 minutes or so, but I definitely needed a quicker of getting to the office. Perhaps I would buy a bike, it's not like I need a car.

Mai seemed off all morning. I guessed she was worried about Bou-san; I had gathered from what had been said last night at dinner that he had been drugged and that his internal organs were fighting to repair the damage.

Even though I had prompted many times, she had not risen to any of the bait I had thrown. I had insulting her, teasing her and was just about to throw something at her when Madoka came out of her office.

"Oliver, have you arranged a follow-up appointment with the orphanage about that girl?"

"No, I will do that now."

She disappeared again. I made the call, the entire time I was watching Mai out of the corner of my eye. While I talked to the receptionists about the options for seeing Takako, I screwed up a spare piece of paper and threw it at Mai.

She didn't so much as blink, but picked up the paper, shuffled over and handed it back.

"You dropped this." She muttered as she did so. What on earth was up with her?

When I had finished on the phone, I called Mai's name. She ignored me, staring off into space.

"Mai?" I tried again. She still didn't reply so I decided to have a little fun. "Mai? I'm gay. The office is on fire. Madoka is pregnant. There is a dinosaur out of the window. If you don't respond in the next three seconds, I'll kiss you."

"Hmm?" She turned around. "Did you say something?" I sighed.

"Saturday, we are picking up Takako at 10am, she has to be back before 4pm."

"Okay." She replied distractedly.

"And by that I mean that you will have to pick her up, as I don't have a car."

"I'm going for lunch." She said.

"Mai?"

"Yes?" She said as she stood up and put her jacket on.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She beamed at me as if she hadn't been practically non-responsive for the last half an hour. Yet it didn't look right, there was something less easily definable hidden behind her eyes.

She left and I set about returning to my work. Madoka had set me the task categorising old cases for the new online system that Lin was sorting the servers and storage for. When I had first arrived, I had wondered why Mai had not been in the other personal office that 10 years ago Lin had used. It turned out it was being used for storage. The entire room was filled with filling cabinets.

Now the entire lot was going to be uploaded and the entire system digitalised. It made sense and fortunately many of the case reports were still on Mai's and Madoka's PCs. To be honest, I was surprised they hadn't done it sooner.

It wasn't until I looked up and realised that it was almost 2pm that I wondered where Mai had got to. It didn't take two hours to get lunch. I pulled my own lunch out of my bag and started eating as I wandered to Madoka's office.

"Has Mai contacted you?" I asked, frowning.

"No, why?"

"She went for lunch two hours ago and hasn't returned, is that normal?"

"No. Give her a ring."

"I don't have her number."

"It's on the system, check her file." Madoka said distractedly, she looked tired and stressed out.

I returned to my desk and pulled up Mai's file. Though I couldn't read most of it – damn kanji – her phone number was right next to the rest of her contact details.

I dialled the number and put the phone to my ear. It rang. And rang. And rang. Then Mai's voice issued from the speaker.

"You've reached Taniyama Mai, I can't get to the phone right now so please leave a message and I'll try to get back to you!" Then a long beeping sound.

"Mai, where the hell are you?" I told the answerphone, then hung up. I started towards Mai's desk, looking for something I could use psychometry on to find her. Then I remembered my abilities are gone. "Damn. Madoka, Mai's not answering. I am going to find her." I said loudly, pulling on a jacket.

"Do you know where she is?" Madoka came running to the door and Lin poked his head out of the other room.

"No, but I have an idea."

The graveyard was only a ten minute walk away, and sure enough, there was Mai. She was sat by her parents' graves.

"Mai." I said, warning her to my presence.

"Naru?" She spun around. "What are you doing here?"

"You've been gone for two hours!" I pulled out my phone and texted Madoka, letting her know that I had found Mai.

"Oh shit. Sorry." She stood up. "Madoka's going to be furious. I was supposed to finish that report." She started walking off.

"Mai, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." She kept walking away from me, and so I followed. I wanted to keep asking, but then I remembered she hadn't pushed me about the nightmares. "Well if you want to talk…" I trailed off; it wasn't like she was really listening anyway.

"Was Madoka angry?"

"Madoka is incapable of getting angry at you Mai." I pointed out.

"I'm just worried about Bou-san and…" She trailed off. There was obviously something else on her mind.

"Bou-san will be fine Mai." I told her, trying to sound reassuring.

We walked in silence back to the office, and Mai apologised to Madoka, then returned to her work.

Her mood had not changed on Friday either. It was frustrating. She was being polite and nice and quiet and impossible to infuriate. She had made me tea and hadn't even waited for the 'thank you' she knew wouldn't come. She had ignored my taunts about the size of her bum, her inability in English and about her useless ex.

I had resorted to throwing pieces of screwed up paper at her. My aim was excellent and I hit her on the head every single time. I was about to give up when she suddenly turned on me.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?"

Finally!

"Throwing things at you." I replied off-handedly.

"Why?" She demanded.

"Because you're being a frightful bore."

"Well why don't you do your work then?"

"I'm finished."

"Then go home! Or go and bug someone else."

"I'm paid to be here until 5pm."

"As if Madoka cares." She hissed. I screwed up another piece of paper and threw it at her; it landed on her nose and bounced off. She practically started fuming at the ears.

"You see, I had to aim for your face, because your butt was too big a target; it would have been too easy." I smirked at her. Mai got up and stormed to Madoka's office. She was going to tell on me, the little snitch.

"Madoka!" She practically screamed. "Get that jerk out of here right now or I swear to any god of your choosing that I will quit right now."

"What has he done now?" Madoka sounded very tired.

"He has been wasting paper and throwing things at me and insulting me and I have had enough." She shouted.

"Mai, I suggest you go home, I will deal with Noll."

Mai stormed back to her desk, grabbed her things and gave me a filthy look.

"Tell-tale." I muttered childishly.

"Oh piss off Naru. I don't know why you are acting like such a brat and to be honest I really don't care. But my friend could be dying right now and I have much better things to do than think about you."

"So you were thinking about me?" I enquired innocently. She stomped over to my desk and glared down at me. I stood up and looked down at her; I had well over half a foot in height over her. Then I folded my arms and raised an eyebrow at her. She reached up and slapped me, hard. "I can't feel that side of my face, idiot."

She made to slap me with her other hand, but I caught her arm before she could even get close. Then she did something completely unexpected. Just as I took hold of her arm, I felt a sudden jolt in my groin. Then blinding pain.

I fell to my knees in agony. As if a sickness was rising up within me. I was vaguely aware of Mai leaving and Lin sniggering from the doorway.

"You really shouldn't piss her off, Oliver." Madoka's voice said from somewhere. I had my eyes shut, screwed up in pain. "She learnt a lot more than that from Yasuhara."

"That was below the belt." I hissed.

"Literally." Lin said, laughing.

"You don't hit people there. It's underhand."

"Noll, I really don't blame the girl. You have been deliberately pissing her off." Madoka said, she sounded closer now. "Now go home. You will get overtime pay for your work tomorrow."

I opened my eyes and slowly stood up. Walking wasn't comfortable. I grabbed my things and headed out of the office.

The walk home was long and painful. Halfway home, I remembered I had Mai's number.

**That was cruel.**

I didn't really expect a reply, but I received one nevertheless.

**I'm surprised I managed to hit anything the target was so small.**

Really? Was that the best she could manage?

**So you've been looking at me there?**

It was only as I sent it that I realised I probably shouldn't provoke her any more.

**I don't need to look; your personality says it all.**

What?

**If you are implying I'm compensating for something, you are more than welcome to check.**

That should shut her up.

**Sorry, I lost my magnifying glass.**

Damn.

**It's probably up your arse somewhere. Though that's so big I doubt you'll ever find it.**

Ha. But she didn't reply.

I let myself into my flat, slipped my shoes off and put the kettle on. Then remembered how awful my tea was and switched it off again.

**If I apologise will you make me tea?**

I sent it before I overthought the matter then went to get changed into comfier clothes.

Mai had been right. I have been acting differently. Ever since the incident… I felt less interested in my work. I suppose it was natural to feel that way after what had happened. The drive I had previously had to document supernatural phenomena and have it recognised as a proper discipline had vanished. I still wanted those things, but they just didn't seem a priority. A beep told me I had received a text.

**As if you would ever say you were sorry. Let alone mean it.**

Damn, she was pissed at me.

**I reckon we are even anyway. That bloody hurt. Now come here, we should plan tomorrow.**

That should get her here. We should have some idea of a plan before Takako turns up. Then when Mai is here, she will have to make tea.

**What is there to plan? I pick her up, you teach her things, I take her home.**

She had a point. But I wanted tea.

**Please?**

It was the only weapon in my arsenal I had left. I sat, slouched on my sofa waiting for a reply. But nothing came. Disappointed, I picked up my laptop from the coffee table and started scouring the internet. I needed a new hobby. My brain was itching to do something new – that wasn't anything to do with parapsychology.

I had been looking for about ten minutes when my phone beeped again.

**What is your address?**

Grinning, I replied and then returned to my search with much more enthusiasm.

Mai turned up twenty minutes later and I let her in. She had changed into leggings and an oversized sweater. Though I suspect the sweater was probably an ordinary size, and that it was just she was tiny.

"You know, in England, I bet you'd have to wear childrens clothes." I said as she made her way into the kitchen.

"Surely if my arse is so big, I would be shopping in the plus-size." She replied dryly.

"Fine, your bum isn't that big." I rolled my eyes.

"You know, I'm pretty sure I could sue you for sexual harassment in the workplace for commenting on such things while at work." She said. "I mean it's not something you should really be looking at."

"As if you would." I sunk back onto the sofa and watched her make the tea. I studied the process carefully. But I couldn't see her do anything I hadn't done. Yet when she handed me the cup and I took a sip, it tasted like heaven.

"How are the nightmares?" She asked, joining me on the sofa. My mood sunk like a stone.

"Fine." I replied. I wasn't even sure what I meant by it. They weren't fine at all. I had woken this morning, sweating and screaming. Mai obviously noticed my change in demeanour.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I was just worried." I saw tears appear in her eyes, but before I could do anything to comfort her, she continued. "I forgot, you left this in the apartment." She pulled a black t-shirt out of her bag. "I was going to wash it, but I didn't have time."

"Right." I took the t-shirt from her, got up and chucked it in my laundry pile.

"How do you want to structure tomorrow then?" She asked as I re-joined her on the sofa.

"Well I was going to talk her through a series of meditation exercises. Explain a bit about psychometry, work out what triggers hers and then help her learn to control it." I said. "Though I doubt we'll get all of that done tomorrow, I was going to focus on the meditation exercises. If she can remain calm, it'll happen less. It should be enough to keep her going until we can take her out again."

"So am I literally just there to be a taxi service?"

"No, I am not good with children. I am sure you remember that much."

"I don't know, Mr Knight-In-Shining-Armour. Takako seemed to like you."

"But what is a Knight without his Princess." I said, and Mai rolled her eyes at me.

"I distinctly remember you telling her I was no princess."

"Well with a butt that big, how could you be?"

"What is it with you and my butt?" She exclaimed.

"You're the one that gets touchy about it."

"Sorry, my ego isn't big enough to reflect all the criticism I receive from you." She scowled at me. "What's for dinner?"

"What?"

"You can't invite a girl around for the evening and not make her dinner." She raised an eyebrow at me.

"This isn't a date Mai."

"I know it isn't." But she blushed nevertheless. "I usually make some sort of effort with my appearance for dates."

I decided not to point out that the leggings showed her bum off very nicely – alright I had been looking – and that wearing such things on a date wouldn't have been that bad an idea.

"I only have microwave meals in."

"I'm not fussy."

"I could have guessed that by looking at your boyfriend history." I pointed out and she glared at me.

"As if you have any history." I didn't correct her. There was no point in lying.

"Just shout when you are hungry then." It wasn't that late yet, only 6pm.

"So what are you doing?" She indicated the laptop, which was sat open on the coffee table.

"Nothing much." I said, shutting the lid. I didn't feel much like sharing.

"Were you watching porn?"

"No." I replied quickly.

"Sure." She said sceptically.

"Mai, I don't know about you. But you don't leave porn up on your laptop when you have invited someone around." I said patronisingly. "Besides, you have sex on the brain."

"We all have needs." Mai replied. "And someone denied me the chance to sort out those needs by making my boyfriend break up with me."

"Mai, that boy would have wet himself if you'd stripped in front of him."

"Hey! I'm not that ugly." She poked me reproachfully.

"That's not what I meant." I replied.

"Sure." She sounded sceptical.

"You'd be surprised how many guys get stage fright on their first time."

"You mean you did and are now trying to make it sound like all guys are scared of girls."

"Mai, when I was younger and didn't have so much control over psychometric evaluations, I would see a lot more than the useful things. Like how Takako saw her carers doing things an eight year old shouldn't see. I have seen a lot of guys lose their nerve."

She looked at me thoughtfully.

"I think I probably would lose my nerve too." She said finally, still frowning in thought. "It's like, I want to do those things, but they are kind of scary at the same time."

"I'm going to put dinner on." I said, wanting to change the subject away from these dangerous waters. "Do you want to watch a film?"

"I thought the great Oliver Davis didn't watch TV or films?" Mai teased.

"Well if you can find something on TV with a plot, I won't object too much if you make me another cup of tea." I had to take advantage of her tea-making skills while she was here. She laughed, and though she couldn't see, I smiled at the sound. "Chow mein alright?" I rooted through the freezer, but there wasn't much else.

"As long as it doesn't end in a food fight, I'll take anything." Mai replied as she flicked through the channels.

After we had eaten, I sat myself down on the sofa and we started watching the film Mai had chosen. About five minutes in, I pulled Mai over, so that she was using my chest as a pillow and I had my arm around her. Thankfully, she did not question the gesture.

To be honest, due to my disjointed sleep from the past week, I was so tired that after another ten minutes or so of the film, I fell asleep.

She woke me at the end of it and teased me for having fallen asleep. But I didn't mind. I did mind when she left soon after. To be fair it was late, but a small part of me wished she had stayed longer.

**Author's note: I feel the beginning of this chapter didn't go so well, but I hope it improved towards the end. Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10: Mai

Explaining exactly where I had planned to go on Friday night had been interesting to say the least. When I had told Madoka I was popping round to Naru's apartment to plan Saturday, she had initially thought I was going to murder him; an idea that had occurred to me. So then I had to promise not to harm him. Once that was out of the way, she had a strangely knowing look on her face that I did not like one bit.

I did not arrive home again until past 11pm. This did not aid the thoughts obviously running around Madoka's head. Ignoring her whispered conversation with Lin and went straight to bed, wishing that I too had my own flat without judging stares.

I was just about to set off for the orphanage when I received a phone call.

"Mai? We need to switch the location." Naru said.

"Why?"

"I ordered some books and just received an email that they would arrive today, if I'm not in then it'll be a right hassle to collect them from the post office."

I thought about it, there was no reason we had to do it at the office, though Naru's flat was a little small it wouldn't be unmanageable.

"Alright, we'll be there soon."

I collected Takako, who was beaming at the sight of me. She jumped in my car and did her seatbelt up, still grinning.

"How are you today?" I asked kindly as I started the car.

"I'm good Mai-nee." She replied, I smiled at her choice of honorific. "I haven't been on a trip in ages!"

"Does the orphanage not take you places?"

"We go to the beach in the summer." She told me. "But apart from that, not really. My friends sometimes go on trips with grown-ups."

"I see."

"What are we doing today?"

"Well my colleague is going to teach you to stop the things you see. We might not teach you everything today, so we might have to borrow you another day, if that's alright?"

"Yes please." She beamed. "Can we have cake? We never get cake at the orphanage."

"Maybe after lunch. What do you want for lunch?"

"I don't mind." Takako said. "Is Ayako-sensei going to be there?"

"I don't think so."

"Is it true she can talk to trees?"

"Yes."

"She told me that when I told her about what I can see. I think it makes sense. 'Cos trees are really old and so is she." Takako giggled.

"She's not that old." I laughed.

"She's like almost 100 years old." Takako said, exaggerating wildly. I laughed again, remembering that I had thought the same when I was that young.

"I think it's closer to 200." I said, which made Takako giggle some more. I pulled up outside Naru's apartment and climbed out of the car, then let Takako out. Together we walked into the apartment block.

"Did Kazuya-san really save a little girl?"

"Yup." I replied, as we started up the stairs.

"Will his face ever be normal again?"

"Probably not."

"He must be really brave. I think ghosts are really scary."

"Not all of them are scary, just some." I told her. "Some of them are really nice."

We arrived outside his apartment and I knocked. Takako imitated my knocking pattern and grinned up at me. Naru opened the door and I was shocked to see he wasn't wearing entirely black. The colour of his t-shirt matched the colour of his eyes; a deep midnight blue.

"Hello trouble." He said to Takako, who giggled, and he let us in. "Mai, tea."

"That's not very nice!" Takako reprimanded. "You should say please."

Naru ignored her. I made my way to the kitchen and started the kettle.

"Would you like a drink Takako?"

"No thank you Mai-nee." She had slipped her shoes off and run over to the sofa. I watched as she sat down and was careful not to touch anything with her bare skin. I wondered whether gloves would help the girl; if she couldn't touch things then she couldn't see things.

"Okay Takako-chan, I want to start with some meditation exercises." Naru told the young girl. I could hear him pushing furniture out of the way to make some space on the floor. A giggle told me he had moved the sofa Takako was sitting on. "Come and sit here."

"Yes Kazuya-san."

I saw Naru frown at the use of his alias.

"Takako-chan, can I tell you a secret?" He whispered conspiratorially. I saw her eyes widen in shock and she nodded vigorously.

"Have you seen any superhero movies?"

"Like Batman?"

"Yes, just like Batman. Well you know how Batman doesn't tell everyone he's really Bruce Wayne?" She nodded again. "Well I have two names like that too." Her mouth fell open and I laughed softly; trust Naru to paint himself as a superhero. "So can I trust you enough to tell you my real name?" Takako nodded earnestly. "Are you sure?" She nodded again with added enthusiasm. "Okay, well you can call me Naru, okay? But just when it's us, not when there's any grown-ups."

"Naru-nii, does Mai-nee know?" Takako whispered loudly.

"Yes she does."

"Is she like Robin?"

"More like Alfred perhaps…" Naru said, chuckling to himself as I set the tea down on the coffee table.

"Is that why she makes your tea?" Takako asked.

"Exactly." Naru said, ignoring the glare I was giving him. "Now, down to business…"

I half listened as he started telling Takako about meditation and how it might help her. After a few minutes, I got up and started looking through Naru's cupboards, looking for food. But they were bare. All except for the freezer, that had a few microwavable meals in it. There was no way I was feeding Takako a microwave meal for her lunch.

It was only as I closed the freezer, that I realised I hadn't even seen any plates. There were a few sets of chopsticks, but even as I thought about it, last night we had eaten the meals out of the packets.

It took me a moment to realise Naru was still scared of the cooker, despite it being an electric hob. I checked the cupboards again. He had a few mugs and some tea bags. There was no wok, no chopping knives, nothing.

"I'm going to pick us up some lunch." I said to the room at large.

"Can we have cake?" Takako said suddenly, bursting out of the calm concentration she had been in a moment before. Naru glared around at me for interrupting.

"What flavour?"

"Chocolate!"

"I'll see what I can find." And I disappeared out of the door.

When at the supermarket, I picked up some fresh vegetables, straight to wok udon noodles, a few sauces, a small wok, a chopping board and knife, a set of plates and bowls, a large chocolate cake, a big bag of rice and a rice cooker. It was only as I was paying that I thought I might have gone a little overboard. But he couldn't just keep eating microwave meals; it wasn't healthy. I thought the rice cooker was a good idea, it would mean that he could eat something without having to use the hob or the microwave.

I arrived back, laden with bags and started unpacking things. Naru was staring at me suspiciously, but I ignored him and started making lunch.

"Mai-nee, did you get cake?"

"It depends, Naru has she been working hard?"

"I have!" Takako protested. "Naru-nii, tell her how hard I worked!"

Naru looked slightly amused by how Takako was reacting.

"Well, I supposed she did do some work…" He said slowly. "Perhaps we'll have to show Mai and she can judge."

"Yes, after lunch, show me and if you've done well enough then you can have cake."

"Okay." Takako agreed and turned back to Naru. "Come on!" She nagged. "I need to practice!"

I finished making lunch and plated it up. Naru was glaring at me the entire time we ate, I knew he wanted me to question me on why I had bought plates and things, but I ignored his stare and talked to Takako instead. She was telling me all about her friends at the orphanage; their names and where they were from.

After lunch, Takako showed me the meditation technique Naru had taught her. He had to prompt her a few times on specific details; but I could see him smiling at her progress.

"So do I get cake?" She asked once finished.

"Oh I guess you could have a bit." I retrieved the cake and watched as her eyes went wide. "Would you like some Naru?"

"No." I gave him a look that said suit yourself and cut generous sized portions for myself and Takako. She grinned up at me and took the plate.

"Can we watch TV?" She asked.

Naru handed her the remote control and she smiled wildly at him.

After we'd finished the cake, I washed up and Naru continued teaching. I could see Takako's concentration lagging after another hour or two, so in the end; he gave up and let her watch TV for a while before I took her home. Just before we left, Naru called Takako to one side.

"Now, on this piece of paper is my phone number. I want you to call me if anything happens." He told her. "If you see something you don't understand or that you think is really bad, tell me, okay?"

Takako nodded and took the piece of paper gingerly from him, but a moment later she smiled.

"I didn't see anything!" She said happily.

"Good, now promise to practice meditating every day when you can. If you stay calm, you can stop the visions better."

"Thank you Naru-nii." And we left.

When I dropped the little girl off at the orphanage, she looked back at me and I could tell she wanted to hug me. But she was afraid to. It was so sad, that she had probably not been hugged in so long.

"Maybe next time, hmm?" I said kindly and handed her the rest of the cake which we had agreed she could take to share with her friends. She nodded and ran off into the orphanage, waving as she went.

At home, I changed into my pyjamas and checked my phone.

**Why the hell did you buy this stuff? I can't use the hob Mai.**

I was shocked at his honesty; he was admitting his own failing.

**There are left-overs from lunch in your fridge. Heat it up in the microwave and have it with rice for dinner. Rice cooker is in the top left cupboard. I didn't expect you to use it, but it's there for when you're ready to. **

Damn I am too nice to this man. I spent the rest of my evening telling Madoka and Lin how the day had gone. They wanted to hear all about Takako and Naru's teaching skills.

"I know he can lecture well, but I never figured he'd be able to teach a small child." Madoka said, smiling. "He's usually awful with kids and makes them cry."

"Takako seems to have taken to him. Then again, he has her convinced that he's a superhero." I told them. "And that I was his butler." Madoka and Lin laughed.

As I lay in bed, I thought about the day. I had expected Naru to be annoyed at me for injuring him yesterday, but he seemed to have put it behind him, which I was grateful for. He had been an incredibly patient teacher with the young girl, though I guessed he could understand better than anyone what she was going through.

And with that comforting thought, I fell asleep.

**Author's note: First I want to thank you all for the reviews you have posted so far, you have no idea how much it means to me that you all read this story. Secondly, if any of you actually want me to reply to your reviews, please say because I am more than happy to answer your questions (though I won't tell you everything that's going to happen!). Finally, please review :)**


	11. Chapter 11: Oliver

On Sunday, I went and bought myself a bike. Walking to work every day had become exceedingly dull. Even the weird looks I received for using an umbrella in bright sunlight had become tiring. The bike was brand new, but looks like a vintage road bike. I chose British racing green as the main colour and it rode like a dream. Of course, this would mean contending with the other idiots on the road, but it would cut my commuting time to 10 minutes. Madoka had asked me only a few days ago why I didn't just get the train, Tokyo is famous for its punctual train schedule. But what they don't advertise is that the trains are also packed at rush hour. It wasn't for me; too much unnecessary touching.

I also bought a thin scarf to wrap around my face to protect the burnt side from the sun while cycling. I tested it on my way home and it worked beautifully.

I spent the rest of the day reading one of my new books, which had turned up about ten minutes after Mai and Takako had left the previous day.

I had just shoved a frozen meal in the microwave when there was a knock on the door. It was just past 7pm and I wasn't expecting anyone. Before opening the door, I looked through the eyepiece. It was Mai.

And she was crying.

Hastily, I opened the door. She stood there, tears rolling down her red blotchy face, staring at me as if waiting for me to start shouting at her.

"What's wrong?" I asked tentatively. Was it Bou-san? She shook her head.

"They're fighting." She sobbed, still standing just outside my front door.

"Who are?"

"Lin and Madoka."

What on earth was going on? Why would they be fighting?

"Come in." I moved aside so she could enter. "Explain." I added, shutting the door behind her.

"I don't really know what happened." Mai sobbed, I guided her to the sofa and forced her to sit down. "I was just at home, watching TV, and then they came in and were shouting at each other and then Lin shouted at me and that made Madoka shout at Lin even more!" She wailed. "So I ran out and came here. I've never heard either of them shout like that, it was horrible."

"Children don't like it when their parents fight…" I muttered, putting the kettle on. "What were they saying?"

"Lin was saying something about Madoka embarrassing him and Madoka was shouting that he shouldn't ask things like that in a public place because it's unfair or something."

Realisation dawned in my head. I knew exactly what had happened.

"What did Lin shout at you?" I asked while making a cup of tea.

"To get out and stop being a nosy bitch…" Mai said, sniffing. "I wasn't being nosy! I was in the room before they'd even arrived and…" She started crying again and I handed her the tea.

"He was out of order Mai; I will have words with him." I told her. "No matter how upset he was about Madoka's rejection, he shouldn't have shouted at you. He should know better."

"What?" Mai looked up.

"Before we left England, I knew Lin was planning to propose to Madoka. I suspect from what you've said, that tonight he did, and that she rejected him."

"But why? Why would she reject him?" Mai asked, staring at me in shock.

"I don't know, I am as surprised as you are." I replied, frowning. Mai took a sip of the tea I had made her and spluttered.

"What on earth did you put in this?" She said disgusted. I grimaced.

"Just a teabag and water."

"This is the worst tea I have ever tasted." She said. "It's impressively bad."

"Why do you think I get you to make it?" I replied and she laughed softly.

"Can I stay here?" Mai asked after a few minutes silence. "I'll sleep on the sofa; I just don't want to go back…" She looked up, fresh tears threatening to fall down her face.

"Well I…" I faltered.

"Sorry, it doesn't matter." She said standing up. "I shouldn't've asked."

"Mai, wait!" I called after her, but she was already walking towards the door.

"It's okay, I'm sure Yasuhara has space."

"Mai, are you evening listening?"

But she had picked up her bag and opened the door. I started after her and caught her arm.

"Mai?" She spun to look at me. "I don't mind if you stay, but I don't have a spare blanket or anything."

"Oh." She looked disappointed.

"If you want to stay here, you'll have to share my bed." I said, my heart was thudding in my chest so loudly I was surprised she couldn't hear it. I'm not entirely sure why my heart was doing this though. It was a rather stupid reaction, it's not like anything was going to happen. Or that I wanted anything to happen.

"Is that okay?" She asked in a small voice.

"I wouldn't have offered if it wasn't." I replied and she threw herself at me, embracing me with both arms wrapped around my torso. "Go and wash your face, you look awful. Then you can make me a cup of tea and we'll watch something before bed, okay?" I told her.

"Cheers Naru." She muttered, wiping her eyes. "I can really see how you manage to woo all of those non-existent girlfriends of yours."

"Well I've just managed to get a girl into my bed tonight; I don't think I'm doing too badly." I pointed out. I heard her laugh as she made her way to the bathroom. Hastily, I made my way to my bedroom and tidied it so that it was less of a mess.

When I returned to the living room, Mai had just finished making two cups of tea. She carried them over to the coffee table and I joined her on the sofa.

"Are you going to fall asleep again?" She teased.

"If you pick another boring film." I replied.

"Not my fault you have bad taste." She retorted. "You pick this time." Mai picked up the remote and handed it to me. I rolled my eyes and started flicking through the channels. I settled on a film due to start in a few minutes; Battle Royale.

"This okay?" I asked before drinking some of my tea.

"A horror?" Mai questioned. "Well I'm hiding behind you if it gets scary."

"It's not a scary film Mai." I laughed. "Just a bit gory."

"I will still hide."

"Come here then." I pulled her in again, like I had on Friday. So that her head was resting on my chest and I had my arm around her.

"Naru? Are you ill?"

"No. Why?" I asked, confused.

"Well yesterday you were wearing a blue t-shirt."

"Yes." I agreed.

"And I've just noticed; you're wearing a red t-shirt." Mai said, running the crease of my t-shirt between her fingers.

"Yes I am."

"But you only wear black…"

"Well now I wear colours too." I replied, amused by the frown on her face. "Now be quiet, the film's starting."

We watched the film together in silence, at a few points, Mai had grabbed onto me when something had made her jump or buried her head into my chest when it was particularly gory. Towards the end of the film, was a large explosion that burnt one of the characters. I expected it to bother me, but for some reason, it didn't. Perhaps because I felt no sympathy towards the character. Either way, I was glad it didn't get to me.

After it had finished, Mai prized herself off me and excused herself. When she returned from the bathroom, she pointed out something I hadn't thought of.

"Can I borrow a toothbrush? And some pyjamas?"

"There's a spare in the cabinet above the sink and I can lend you some of mine." I replied. She disappeared back into the bathroom to brush her teeth and I went to my room to find her some pyjamas.

As I sifted through my limited clothes, I soon realised everything I owned was going to be far too big on her. She appeared a few minutes, looking hopefully at me.

"So what have you got for me?"

"A few circus tents…" I muttered. "You can wear any of this; see if you can find anything." I indicated the drawer and headed to the bathroom. When I returned, Mai was standing dressed in one of my t-shirts and was holding up a pair of pyjama bottoms. The t-shirt almost reached her knees. She let go of the pyjama bottoms and they fell to the floor as if she wasn't even there.

"Considering the amount of times you have commented on the size of my arse, you would think something in here would fit." She said to me as I laughed. "I think it's you that has the fat arse."

"Just wear the t-shirt." I said, ignoring her comment. Then I noticed the look of horror on her face. "You're wearing underwear right?" She nodded." So there's no problem. I'm not going to go feeling you up."

I waited until she had climbed into bed before turning the light off and joining her.

"Do you think Lin and Madoka will be okay?" She asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I think so." I hoped so. It was obvious they cared for each other.

"It'd be so sad if they broke up."

"Not to mention awkward at the office." I pointed out.

"If they haven't made up by tomorrow, it's going to be icy."

"They are in different rooms, it'll be fine." I replied, without much conviction. I turned my head to face Mai; she was curled up facing away from me. I turned over and shuffled closer to her, placing my arm around her so that her back was pressed against me. "They'll be okay Mai and so will Bou-san. He's a tough guy, he'll fight through it."

"He's not that young any more though…" I could hear the worry in her voice.

"He's only 35 Mai, he's not that old." But I could tell she wasn't convinced. "Besides, Ayako will kill him if he goes and dies on her." Mai giggled in my arms and I received a whiff of her shampoo; coconut? It smelt nice. I could feel my body react in a way that was entirely inappropriate and I cursed the male anatomy silently. Subtly, I shifted my position and hoped she hadn't noticed. Mai giggled again, though this time, I wasn't sure why.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Naru, what's that?" She asked with the laughter still evident in her voice.

"What's what?" I questioned, hoping against hope that it wasn't what I thought it was.

"What is that?" She shuffled back and wriggled her bum against my crotch. I cursed mentally.

"That is appropriate behaviour Mai." I made to move away from her, but she grabbed my arm and held me there.

"And it's appropriate to have a boner because of a colleague."

"Tell that to Lin."

"Don't try and change the subject."

"Erections happen for no reason at all sorts of times." I told her. It was true and highly inconvenient.

"And you're telling me it's there for no reason?"

"I think most straight men will get an erection when they have a female pressed up against them, let alone one who is semi-naked." And attractive, I added in my head.

"And so knowing that, why did you choose to hug me in such a way?" Damn, why did she have to think of that?

"Because you were upset, I was trying to be reassuring." I tried to sound exasperated, but wasn't sure I had pulled it off. She twisted around so that she was facing me and then pressed herself against me.

"So, just to clarify…" She said in a soft voice, I could just make out her eyes in the darkness and they were looking between my eyes and my lips in a way that did not help my groin's situation. I could feel every curve of her body. "You don't find me attractive in that way at all?" Her face was so close to mine, I could almost feel her lips brush my own.

"No." I stammered. My heart was pounding again and my mouth had gone dry. Surely she had to know the effect this was having over me. "Not at all."

"Good." She grinned and pushed me back so I fell onto my own half of the bed. "Go to sleep then." I groaned mentally as she turned back over and pulled the duvet up. As if I was going to be able to sleep after that. Since when had any woman, let alone Mai, had that sort of effect over me?

Ten years ago, I hadn't even considered any sort of romantic relationship, let alone a sexual one. I had been too busy looking for Gene's body and besides, psychometry had ruined the idea for me somewhat. Had I been asked then, I would have agreed that Mai had been pretty, but I never would have taken it beyond that.

Now, though, my abilities had gone and with them, the memories of past psychometric visions had faded. As if my mind knew they existed somewhere in the deep recesses of my brain, but they were like old photographs that had been bleached in the sun; barely visible. Mai was a beautiful woman who knew me and understood me. She didn't look away in disgust at the sight of my ruined face. That made it perfectly natural to be attracted to her, didn't it?

"Naru, I can practically hear you thinking from here. Go to sleep." Mai's voice came out of the darkness.

I closed my eyes and willed my body to sleep. But my brain hadn't finished. Nothing could happen with Mai, we were co-workers, it was inappropriate. Hadn't Lin and Madoka's fight proven that?

Uneasy, I drifted off.

**Author's note: I want to hear your thoughts about this so please review!**


	12. Chapter 12: Mai

Monday morning was awkward. I slipped out of Naru's apartment early and returned home to wash and change. I drove myself to work having not seen Madoka or Lin in the apartment, though I suspected Lin had slept in the guest room.

Madoka turned up to work half an hour late, looking tired and muttered something about Lin not making it due to illness. The tension that hung in the air in the office was palpable. Madoka seemed close to tears and Naru was definitely avoiding my eye.

After an hour or so of this, I had had enough. Feeling that Madoka might be the easier person to start with, I made a cup of tea and knocked on her office door.

"Enter." And I did. I set the tea down and she muttered her thanks. "Do you want to talk?"

She looked up at me and plastered a false smile across her face.

"What on earth about?"

"Madoka, last night the pair of you came home yelling at each other and at me. I am not stupid." I replied. Madoka just stared at me so I continued. "Naru has a theory of what happened, do you want to hear it?" She continued to stare. "Naru reckons that Lin proposed and you said no."

"I panicked." She whispered and ran her hands through her hair. "He's been back a week, Mai, just a week and then he sprung that on me. I panicked and ran out and…"

"Oh Madoka…" I bent down beside her and embraced her as fresh tears came to her eyes.

"It's just we haven't seen each other properly for so long and he deserves someone younger and better and…" She trailed off as her sobs renewed.

"Madoka that is the biggest pile of bullshit ever." I told her forcefully. "The man has barely seen you for the last ten or eleven years really and he still proposed to you. He wants you. Do you love him?"

"Of course I do!"

"And do you want to marry him?"

"Yes…" She whispered, sounding scared of her own answer. "But he hates me now…"

"I very much doubt that."

As if by magic, there was a knock at the office door and Naru poked his head through.

"Um, Lin's here and wants to see you Madoka." He said quietly before swinging open the door to reveal Lin standing behind him. Quite frankly, Lin looked dreadful. His hair was matted and the buttons on his shirt were done up wonky. Madoka stood up and I let my arms fall away from her.

"Naru, let's go to the convenience store, we're almost out of tea." I said quickly and walked out of the office, grabbed my jacket, purse and Naru's umbrella and pulled Naru out with me.

We had walked for two whole minutes before he spoke.

"Are they going to be okay?" He sounded genuinely concerned.

"I think so." I replied. "Madoka panicked last night, Lin sprung it all on her a bit soon."

"Idiots." He muttered. Though he still hadn't made eye contact with me. We had barely spoken that morning before I left and I was worried I had pushed him too far the previous night.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course."

"Look, I'm sorry about last night. It was wrong of me." I said, hoping he would realise without further explanation what I was talking about.

"What? Oh. It doesn't matter." He said, looking down. "Just made me realise I probably won't ever have a girl act like that around me."

"Why?"

"Mai, look at my face. It was the only thing I really had going for me as everyone will admit my personality is rotten." This was odd, he sounded genuinely upset by it. It was like I had broken through his tough exterior and found something gentle and damaged inside.

"You don't look that bad." I rolled my eyes at it. "And you managed to charm Takako well enough."

"Eight year old girls aren't really my thing, apart from the fact that it would be very illegal and wrong."

"Naru, the best part of you is up here." I tapped the side of his head. "If a girl can't see that, then she's not worth bothering with."

"And can you see it?" He asked, looking up. But we'd arrived at the store and I pushed my way through the door, hoping to change the subject quickly.

"Do we need anything other than tea?" I asked as I made my way to the tea aisle.

"I planned on picking up some lunch."

"Oh good idea, I didn't bring anything today."

We picked up a box of tea and two bento boxes and started back towards the office. The silence between us possibly more awkward than it had been previously.

However, it was relieved as when we entered the office building, my phone started ringing; it was Yasuhara.

"Hello?" I hastily answered it and listened to what he had to say. "I will be there soon." And hung up. I fished my lunch out of the carrier bag and handed the rest to Naru, who was frowning at me. "Bou-san has woken up. I have to go." And without so much as a backwards glance I ran back out of the building and around to my car.

Yasuhara met me in the hospital entrance and gave me the low-down on what had happened.

"Ayako is here already. He woke up and after the doctor's cleared him we interrogated him. But he can't remember anything since his performance two Friday's ago."

"Is Ayako mad with him?"

"Only for being asleep so long."

We entered the room together, to see Ayako talking animatedly to a tired looking Bou-san.

"Mai!" He said loudly, interrupting Ayako's never ending stream of drivel. I ran around the other side of the bed and hugged him.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" I said into his ear as I embraced him. "You shouldn't go worrying us like that!"

"Says you, little miss trouble!" He teased and ruffled my hair.

"Hey!" I protested. "Don't do that."

"Yeah, you'd hate him to mess it up if you are going to see Naru later." Yasuhara said from the doorway.

"Shut up." I muttered, but I could feel my cheeks reddening.

"Naru is back?" Bou-san asked. I'd forgotten he hadn't been told.

"And Lin." I told him. "Naru had half his face burnt off by an angry ghost, then got demoted and the pair of them came back here."

"Half his face?" Bou-san sounded shocked.

"It's kind of healed now." I told him. "He's fine."

"And why would you be seeing him later?" Bou-san asked.

"Because she likes him of course." Yasuhara said, smirking at the infuriated look on my face.

"Shut up!" I hissed at him, but he just sniggered.

"What about Shinji?" Blimey, Bou-san was behind the times.

"Boss made him break up with her." Yasuhara told him.

"Good, you can do better Mai."

"Did everyone dislike Shinji?" I asked exasperatedly.

"It's not that we disliked the man, just thought he wasn't right for you." Ayako said calmly.

"You as well? And no one said anything?" I felt somewhat betrayed.

"You wouldn't have listened to us." Ayako said, rolling her eyes. I sat down in the spare chair and pulled my lunch out of my bag and started eating, glaring at them all, which only seemed to make them laugh harder.

Bou-san, thankfully, changed the subject and we spent the afternoon talking happily, until the nurses threw us out. He would have to remain in hospital for a few weeks, to make sure there was no lasting damage, but they were confident he would now be okay.

When I arrived home, I had forgotten completely about the Lin-Madoka awkward situation. But Madoka greeted me happily as I entered the flat. However things soon went downhill. Madoka informed me that she and Lin had made up and were going to move out together and give it a few months before deciding on marriage; depending on how well living alone together went. So in short, I had two weeks to find somewhere to live, because I had no way of financing this flat alone.

I was happy for them, glad they had sorted out their dispute and yet, I felt sad. It was the end of something that had made me so happy for so many years and now I was going to be living alone again.

After dinner, I excused myself and retreated to my room. I spent half my evening looking for somewhere new to live and the other half beginning to pack things away. I felt in a state of limbo, not really existing here but not really having anywhere else to go.

The listless feeling I had remained all week. I desperately wanted a case; something dangerous and life threatening to take my mind off of everything.

On Saturday, I collected Takako again and drove her to Naru's flat. We had agreed that working there was as good as anywhere. I cooked everyone lunch again, Naru taught Takako new things and we rounded the day off watching TV and eating cake.

Just before I took Takako back, Naru did something that thoroughly surprised me.

"Naru-nii, will you come to the orphanage too?" Takako had asked.

"Why?"

"The other kids don't believe that you're a superhero and I want you to tell them that they are wrong."

"Well if they are too stupid to believe the truth, isn't that their problem?" He had said to her.

"Please?" She begged, her big brown eyes staring up at him imploringly. I had expected Naru to flat out say 'no', but he didn't.

"Alright. Mai, can you get the van from the office?"

"What?" I replied, shocked.

"Well your car only has two seats, we need three. The van has three, go and get the van." He explained. Still surprised, I did as asked and returned fifteen minutes later with the van. Strictly speaking we weren't supposed to use it, but this was on official business… Sort of.

"Is this the van you use to go and save people in?" Takako asked as we climbed in.

"Yes." Naru told her. I was driving, so I left him to deal with her questions. "Takako, I have an idea I want to share with you."

"Okay Naru-nii." Takako sat bolt upright and stared expectantly at him.

"I think you've been doing really well with learning to control your ability." He said. "And I want to put it to the test, to see how well you can control it in a stressful situation."

"I don't understand…"

"Well, I want to take you somewhere where this is lots of people and see if you can control it when you don't know anyone and there's a chance you might accidently touch something you might not want to. Then see if you can control it, because I think you will be able to."

"Where would we go…?" Takako still sounded unsure. I wasn't sure about this either, sure the girl had done great over the last two weekends, but wasn't it a bit soon?

"I was thinking the zoo." Naru said and Takako gaped at him.

"I've never been to the zoo before!" She was beaming now, and Naru looked thoroughly pleased with himself. I pulled the van up outside the orphanage and we all got out. Takako grabbed mine and Naru's hands and dragged us up towards the building. "Can we pretend to be a family? When we go?"

"Well…" I started, but Naru cut me off.

"Of course we can." He said, ignoring my glares. As we entered the orphanage, Takako led us through to a day room where lots of children were playing. Her friends came rushing up to meet us.

"This is Shibuya-san and Taniyama-san." Takako said importantly, then turned to Naru and dropped her grown-up manner. "Tell them!" She urged.

"Is it really true?" One of the other children asked. A multitude of children dragged Naru to a sofa and he started telling them a thrilling tale of how exactly he saved the little girl. From what I could hear, he embellished the story a bit from what I had read in the badly translated document I had received from Madoka. But the children were all sitting opened mouthed staring at him in wonder and Takako looked particularly smug.

I sat down on the edge of the sofa and listened to the rest of Naru's tale, when he finished, the children asked lots of questions. Did his face hurt? Could they touch it? Was it scary?

Naru answered their questions and let them prod the left side of his face. A carer from the orphanage came and told us we would have to leave; so Takako hugged me and Naru and we left, promising to pick her up next week.

"Why did you tell Takako we could pretend to be a family while at the zoo?" I asked, once we were back in the car.

"Because we can." He replied simply.

"And you didn't think you'd consult me before signing me up to act like the girl's mother for a day?"

"It's just one day Mai."

"She's going to expect us to act like parents Naru!" I wasn't sure if he had realised this, or was just being dense on purpose.

"So your issue is that I would be taking the place of the father?" He wasn't looking at me.

"Just consult me next time!" I fumed.

"That little girl doesn't have a family Mai; she doesn't know what having parents feels like. You are not going to ruin it for her." He said, sounding almost angry.

"Why don't you just adopt her then?" My voice softened, he was right, I wouldn't ruin this for Takako.

"I can't, my income is too low." He replied. So he had thought about it enough to research it?

I started the van and we drove in silence back to Naru's apartment.

"I'm sorry for losing my temper." I said, as I parked.

"No, I should've asked you." He said in a low voice.

"I was surprised you went to the orphanage." I said. "That girl has you wrapped around her little finger."

"I guess she does." A small smile tugged at the edge of his lips. "Do you want to come in? For a drink or something?"

"I should get the van back." I replied. "Then I should keep looking for apartments…"

"Madoka and Lin kicking you out?"

"No, they are moving out. I can't afford that place alone so I need to find somewhere else to live."

"Well you are always welcome at mine." He said quietly.

"After what happened last time, I don't think that's such a good idea." I replied, looking away and feeling down. Naru got out of the car and then stuck his head through the window.

"Well if you don't think you can handle me…" He said cheekily.

I hastily looked around; I hadn't expected that reaction at all.

"I think we both know I was fully in control of that situation." I retorted, smirking.

"And yet you are the one driving off now."

I scowled and pushed his head back out of the window, then sped off before he could say anything else. So he had wanted more. I couldn't think about that while I was driving so I forced it to the back of my mind. Yet as I parked the van behind the office and climbed into my own car I thought back to the previous weekend. He had definitely reacted to my movements then. He had seemed interested.

Before I had realised quite what I was doing, I found myself back at Naru's flat. I parked the car, walked up to his apartment and knocked. He answered a minute later and stared expectantly down at her.

"Yes?" He prompted. I stepped closer to him and realised just how much taller he was. At my movement, I could feel him tense up. "Mai?" But I ignored him and grabbed the neck of his shirt and pulled his face down towards mine. His lips crashed into mine and I kissed him with no reserve.

I expected him to resist, or freeze or something. Yet he didn't. He kissed me back with enthusiasm. I could feel his hands snake behind my back and pull me closer. How many times had I thought about this when I was younger? And now it was happening; Naru was kissing me!

And then it ended. We broke apart and I stared up at him, his arms still around me. Shit. We'd kissed. That wasn't supposed to happen. Shit.

"Mai?" He said, gazing down at me, his expression soft.

"I'm sorry." I said, feeling tears springing to my eyes. "I shouldn't have…" And then I was running. Running down the stairs and to my car. I heard him shout after me but I didn't stop. I didn't stop until I had driven home, run into my room, locked the door and thrown myself on my bed. Then too many emotions hit me at once, and I cried.

**Author's note: Oops... Please review!**


	13. Chapter 13: Oliver

Well that was unexpected.

So I had been at home for all of 20 minutes and then Mai's at my door and then she kisses me! And not just a little peck, that was a full on 'I'm so into you' kiss. But then she ran away.

Why did she run away?

Had I not responded enthusiastically enough?

I had thought about texting her, but decided against it. She was obviously confused or something about how she felt and I thought me poking my nose in might not help.

However, on Monday morning, I wished I had said something. Mai seemed unable to look at me without blushing and Madoka was about to make everything more awkward.

"We have a case everyone." She stood in the doorway of her office and looking pleased. "I don't think it's a very serious one, but I think an easy case would be great for everyone. I have contacted John and he's going to be coming with us, seeing as Bou-san is still in hospital. Mai, I want you and Oliver to take the van. Lin and I will take my car back to ours to pick up overnight bags and then we will pick up John on the way."

I nodded my agreement, Mai didn't protest which I suppose is a good thing. I drove us to my apartment and went inside to pick up my things. Mai stayed in the van, she had yet to speak to me.

When I climbed back inside the van with a holdall of things, Mai was still staring out of the window.

"Earth to Mai? Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Yeah I'm fine."

"Look about what happened…"

"Just forget it." Her voice was harsh and cold.

"Why?" I refrained from rolling my eyes, even though she wasn't looking. But she didn't reply. Jeesh, what was up with her? "Mai, I don't want to forget it."

"Well I do."

"Why?" This was starting to annoy me. "Mai! Why?"

"Just drive, will you."

"No." I replied stubbornly and she finally looked around at me. "Why do you want to forget it?"

"Because it shouldn't have happened." She looked anguished.

"But it did and I liked it; best kiss I've ever had." Well really it was the only kiss I've ever willingly had and participated in, but we'll ignore that for the moment.

"But we can't be together."

"Why not?" Why was she making this so difficult?

"Because we work together! It'd be inappropriate! What if we fight? Or broke up? And then still had to work together?!"

"Mai, we fight all the time anyway, I really don't see how it makes a difference."

"They aren't real fights and you know it."

"So what? So what if we fight? You're honestly going to stop this happening because something might go wrong?" I said in disbelief.

"Yes." She replied stubbornly.

"You're an idiot." I replied, feeling angry. I started the van and started driving. The six hour journey to Iwate was going to be painful.

While I could understand her concerns, I was still pissed. She wasn't even willing to try. Well I wasn't going to have it. I won't let her be so stupid about it. So I spent the rest of the drive trying to think of a way to get her to realise what she was missing out on.

We arrived ten minutes after Madoka, Lin and John which surprising as they weren't limited by the slow van. They greeted us and introduced us to the client; Utsumi-san. I ignored the strange looks and listened to Madoka as she explained what had been occurring. He was a farmer who produced mostly beef. Something had been terrorising his cattle, and by terrorising he meant literally ripping them to shreds.

"I'm sorry my house is not large, I can offer you only two rooms." He said gravely. It was very true, his house was tiny. He had given us his living room to use as a base and the spare bedroom to sleep in. There was one bed between five of us and then some floor space. While I was concerned about being so close to Mai when she was being so deliberately difficult, I was more worried about the nightmares. I had no control over when they came and I didn't think waking up screaming in front of everyone was going to go down so well.

"Boys, set up the cameras. Mai take John and have a walk around." Madoka said. I wanted to protest that surely as a male, John counted as one of the 'boys' especially as he is almost as short as Mai.

Lin and I made light work of the equipment and soon had everything set up. Mai and John returned with nothing to report and Madoka had cooked us all dinner.

John was telling us a story about some of the kids at the church, but I wasn't really listening. My eyes were tired from the drive and I really wanted some fresh air. After I had finished eating, I excused myself and headed outside. The sun was just setting so I climbed up on top of the van and sat cross-legged watching it for some time.

I could hear an explanation of exactly why the sun appeared the way it did in the back of my mind. Explanations from a time I wouldn't have sat outside watching the sunset. It seemed all so long ago. I heard someone come out behind me, I wasn't sure who it was but couldn't be bothered to look around.

"Did you know that when we see the bottom of the sun touch the horizon, the sun has already set, but because of the curvature of the atmosphere the light bends so we can still see it?" I said, figuring whoever it was would now speak and reveal themselves.

"No, I didn't." It was John.

"Why are you out here?" I asked.

"Just checking you were okay."

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" I replied.

"I really don't want to push my nose in where it's not wanted, but Mai has flinched every time anyone has mentioned your name."

"She's being an idiot." John didn't say anything and I didn't feel like continuing, but the words fell out. "She won't give us a chance in case we fight and break up. I mean how stupid is that?" John still didn't say anything. "I'm going to make her see sense. If she doesn't want to be with me fine, but it'll be because she doesn't want to, not because she's scared. She's better than that."

I looked around to see John smiling at me.

"Damn you and your wheedling a confession out of me."

He laughed softly.

"You wouldn't have said anything you didn't want to share." He said and I scowled at him. "You should come back in now; Madoka wants to sort out the night shift."

I groaned and slid off the van to the floor. When back in the base, Madoka started suggested shifts.

"Well the drivers should definitely get to sleep first." She began. "Is everyone happy to do lone shifts?" There was a murmur of ascent. "Any volunteers?"

"I'll do the first shift." John said.

"I'll take the second." Mai added.

"I'll do the last." I said. Mai looked around at me, but I didn't look at her. Madoka nodded gratefully.

"Lin and I will definitely do tomorrow then." Madoka said.

Mai woke me at 4am on the cusp of a nightmare.

"Get dressed and meet me in the base." She said quietly, before disappearing. I yearned to turn over and sleep again, but I forced myself out of my sleeping bag and into clothes. The house was cold at night.

Mai was staring at the wall of screens and a steaming cup of tea was waiting for me.

"Budge up." I muttered as I sat on the chair next to hers. "I assume that tea is for me?"

"Yes. Goodnight." She made to stand up, but I caught her arm so that she couldn't move. "Let go Oliver."

"Don't you 'Oliver' me." I scowled at her.

"What do you want?"

"For you to stop being stupid."

"Naru, this is harassment." She said. "I could report you to Madoka and she could have you fired."

I let go of her arm.

"Just one date." I said. "Can we just try it for one date?" I suggested.

"Why?" She replied sadly. "Why bother? Even if it goes well, we can't do this. It's inappropriate and bound to go wrong."

"I can't help that you like me Mai." I replied, hoping this would infuriate her. "But I'm pretty good at most things; I don't see why relationships would be any different."

"Oh come off it Naru, you can barely keep friends let alone a proper relationship." She started to smile.

"I'd like to prove you wrong." I smirked, but Mai seemed to realise what I was doing and her smile faded. "Mai please, you have to know how much this is hurting both of us."

"We can't…" She begged. "If it goes wrong…" I was tired of this argument.

"Then I'll quit!" I replied desperately.

"You can't quit! You're Oliver Davis!"

"Then I'll move back to England!"

"That's ridiculous."

"So is this assumption of yours that everything is going to go wrong!"

"You were the one that had told me to listen to my intuition!" She hissed.

This shocked me. Her intuition had told her it was a bad idea? My resolve weakened. I had had enough.

"So that's your excuse hmm?" I said coldly.

"It's not an excuse…" She faltered.

"So what was this? Payback for Shinji breaking up with you? Or is it because I don't look like Gene anymore?"

"What?" Tears were springing to her eyes.

"I should have realised you still loved him." I knew my words were false and yet somehow, I couldn't stop them from tumbling out. She had hurt me and now I wanted to hurt her back.

"I never…"

"Don't lie. Go on, run off up to bed and have a nice chat with him." I hissed furiously at her.

"You bastard." Tears were leaking out of her eyes but she didn't leave. "It was never ever Gene and you know it. Don't you dare push this off on him!"

"Awfully protective of a man you don't love."

"I would protect any of my friends, especially from monsters like you!"

"Piss off." Low fury crept into my voice and Mai turned on her heel and stormed off to the sleeping quarters. I watched her leave and then poured away the cup of tea she'd made for me.

An action I regretted five minutes later.

What had even happened? How could two people who cared about each other fight so much? It was ridiculous. So much for my plan to win her over.

Watching the screens was dull work, especially when I was so tired. When the others woke up I would definitely be going back to sleep. Maybe if I slept, I could wake up and everything that had occurred between Mai and myself would be a dream. It was an idle hope.

I didn't know what to do.

If she really didn't want me, for whatever stupid reason, should I give up?

The last few weeks had been fun like a dream from someone else's life, but perhaps I should've known it would end. I was Oliver Davis, I did not have fun. I read, I worked and I tolerated idiots whom I could not avoid. A burnt face wouldn't change that. I hadn't been able to use PK since Gene's death, why would losing my psychometric ability change anything?

I let my face go blank, an expression so painfully familiar. Naru was gone.

Oliver Davis was back.

**Author's note: Can you tell I've had a bad day? I've uploaded a cover for this story, I'd love to hear your views. Please review!**


	14. Chapter 14: Mai

Gene was furious with me. I had only to close my eyes for him to be standing there, glowering at me.

"Why are you being so stupid?" He shouted at me. "And why did you lie to Noll?"

"I didn't lie!"

"Really? 'It's my intuition'!" He imitated a high voice. "It's bullshit Mai."

"It'll be better this way." I said quietly.

"Better? Noll is down there locking himself away again, how is that better?!" The anger in his voice was frightening.

"I can't hurt him this way!" I shouted back. "We can't argue and break up and…"

"Mai, you've literally just broken him. And I'm not talking to you again until you've fixed it."

"Gene! Gene no! Wait!" I shouted after him, but he didn't listen. I woke a second later panting. Light was streaming in through the cracks in the window and by the looks of it; everyone else had already got up.

Was I being stupid about this? I wanted to keep him safe and despite what Gene had said, I did have a nagging feeling that everything was going to go wrong. Was I wrong to assume that everything going wrong would be to do with Naru and I getting together? Or was the situation now, where he hated me, it going wrong?

Groggily I got up, showered and dressed. I felt physically and mentally exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go home. The apartment that would only be my home until the end of the week. I still hadn't found somewhere to live; perhaps Yasuhara would let me kip on his sofa…

When I entered the base, I studied Naru's profile. He was sitting up straight, still staring at the screens though his shift ended at least an hour ago. I thought of what Gene had told me; that he was locking himself away again. Was I imagining it, or did his eyes seem glazed?

I found myself some breakfast and took a seat on the sofa. There wasn't much we could do until we experienced some activity. The sofa was quite comfortable and I found myself drifting off.

When I woke, there had obviously been some activity, as Lin, Madoka and Naru were replaying the same bit of screen.

"What's happened?" I asked, yawning. None of them answered me, so I looked to John.

"Something was scaring the cows." He said. "Picked up on the thermal imaging, but not the normal cameras."

"Do we have any ideas what it is?"

"Taniyama-san if you are not going to pay attention and just make noise please leave the room as some of us are working." Naru said. I registered the use of my surname and the insult. Fine. If he was going to be that way.

I stood up and made my way out of the room, closing the door firmly behind me. Had we been at the office, I would have slammed it, but it was not fair of me to break Utsumi-san's door.

I walked around the little house and saw the barn where Utsumi-san kept the cows about to calve. I started walking towards the barn and the gate out into one of his many fields. There were many calves and their mothers grazing happily in the field, a sight which relaxed me somewhat after Naru being an arsehole. A big black cat jumped up on the fence beside where I was standing. It was watching me with interest, but I ignored it.

An urge led me into the barn. It was oddly cold in here, though it was a warm day outside. There were several pens inside with heavily pregnant cows eating from troughs standing alone in each one. I could see one of our cameras, but doubted they were watching this feed. The activity had been in one of the fields.

Then something strange happened. It was like I could see it before it happened. Running around two lengths of the barn were gas pipes that supplied the heaters. I saw the pipes break open and a fire catch. Fire running up the walls of the wooden and highly flammable barn with pregnant cows inside.

Then I blinked. And it was gone. But the unease in my heart had not. I had to get these animals out. I ran to the other end of the barn, which led out into the field and pushed the door wide open. Then I started undoing the pens and trying to pull the cows out. Once one or two had the idea, the others followed. I had managed to get about half out when I spotted the flame.

"Help!" I screamed at the camera, hoping they would see me waving my arms. The fire was spreading up the walls and the remaining cows were beginning to panic. I rushed back to my task and noticed the black cat had somehow crept inside. "Get out cat!" I shouted it, worried it would be trampled by the cows, but it seemed reluctant to move.

I could feel the heat from the blaze and shouts from outside. I knew somehow without even touching the door I had entered through was locked. This ghost was a bastard.

"Mai! Mai!" I could hear voices yelling from the other side of the door and banging noises. I finished letting the cows free, who stampeded towards the clean air and the exit.

"The other door!" I yelled. "I'll go out the other door!" The fire had spread up to the roof and I could hear an ominous cracking sound. I started sprinting towards the open door and could see a figure rushing into view. Then I heard a mewing. The cat! I turned and spotted it. Why hadn't it moved? Was it stupid?!

I started running towards it, ignoring the shouts behind me. I scooped up the cat and turned once again back to the open door. Then a beam fell in front of me.

"Shit!" I yelled in fear, my heart was racing. But adrenaline was pumping through my veins. I took a crazy leap and landed badly on the other side of the beam. My ankle hurt and I tried to get up, still clutching the terrified cat, which was scratching at my grip. But my ankle collapsed beneath me. "Argh!" I screamed as I fell. Then I felt strong arms pulling me up and yanking me towards the doorway. I scrambled forwards, leaning heavily on my saviour. Another beam fell just behind us.

The door seemed so far away. I could vaguely see Madoka's pink hair in the distance and hear her screaming. My ankle was agony but I kept moving, desperately aware of the painful grip my saviour had on me.

Then we were in the open air. I let the cat go and it hit the ground running. The hands holding me up let go and I fell to the ground.

"Thank you." I said gratefully, but he wasn't listening. Naru was on the ground too, but facing the blazing fire. His eyes were wide in fear and he was breathing heavily. I watched his eyes dart back and forth from the dancing flames to the floor just in front of him. "Are you okay?"

I reached up a tentative hand and felt his body shaking. He was having a panic attack. Ignoring my own discomfort, I forced myself into a kneeling position and faced him.

"Naru, can you hear me? You are safe now. I need you to concentrate on the sound of my voice, can you do that?" My voice was strong and reassuring, as I had been taught in first aid. I wasn't sure if he was listening, but somehow I didn't think touching him was a good idea. His body was in fight or flight mode and didn't realise that he was now out of danger. "Naru, I need you to slow your breathing down. Can you do that for me? With me now, take a deep breath in 2… 3… 4… And out 2… 3… 4…" I repeated the instructions until they seemed to take hold in his head. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Madoka and Lin approaching but I waved them away. I did not need them interfering while he was so fragile.

It took me almost ten minutes to calm him down. Finally, when his body relaxed I took his sweaty hand and squeezed it reassuringly. He did not flinch away, which was a good sign. The fire service arrived not long afterwards and put out the rest of the fire.

"Are you okay?" I asked him. I could still see fear in his eyes, but it was more controlled now. "Come on; let's get you away from here." I made to stand up, but fell almost immediately. I had forgotten my ankle.

"You should put some ice on that." He said quietly. He helped me up and supported me back to the house, which was far away enough from the barn not to be affected. I saw Madoka explaining to Utsumi-san what had happened.

After depositing me on the sofa, Naru disappeared for a moment and then reappeared with an icepack covered in a tea towel. He sat down on the other end of the sofa, lifted my ankle onto his lap so that it was raised and held the ice to my skin. Though the tea towel reduced the cold sensation, I still winced.

"Will you ever stop doing stupid things?" He asked, but his voice was softer than it had been earlier. "I would have hoped after ten years you would have stopped by now."

"If I hadn't done anything, those cows would have died!" I protested.

"So could have you!" He replied.

"So?"

"You're an idiot."

"You came after me, what does that make you?!" I snapped back.

"Clever. Your death would have meant a lot of paperwork and a lot of time with that damn kanji dictionary." He replied softly.

"Cheers." I muttered darkly. "I told you I had a feeling something bad would happen." I added, unable to help myself.

"Yeah, that had nothing to do with us."

"How was I to know that?"

"Does this mean you'll change your mind?" His voice was void of emotion.

"It depends. Are you going to get help?"

"I don't need help."

"Naru, you just had a panic attack."

"I do not think it out of the ordinary for the body to react extremely to such a situation."

"It is out of the ordinary for your body not to recognise when it is no longer in danger." I replied. "Please…?"

"Keep your ankle elevated, and the ice on it. I will go and see if we have any compression bandages in the first aid kit." He said, ignoring my plea and leaving the room again. Damn that man.

Madoka appeared before Naru returned.

"Utsumi-san is most grateful for you saving his cows. John is performing exorcisms as we speak. We agreed he would blanket the area with them in the hope of getting rid of the damn spirit." She explained. "How's your ankle?"

"Painful." I replied, lying back on the sofa and closing my eyes. "It's just a sprain." I told her. "RICE right? Rest, ice, compression and elevation. Naru went to look for a compression bandage in the first aid kit."

"Noll was having a panic attack before, wasn't he?" Madoka asked. "When you told us not to come closer?"

"Yes. I suspect PTSD, though I am no doctor. He needs help but…" I trailed off. "Why is he so stubbornly stupid?"

"I was about to ask you the same question." Naru's voice said. I opened my eyes to see him standing with the first aid kit in his arms. "Now why don't you shut up while I sort your ankle out?"

"Yes Nurse Naru." I replied and closed my eyes again. I heard Madoka snigger and I smiled. Naru's pulled off my shoe and sock and removed the ice. He started wrapping the elasticated bandage around my ankle with surprising gentle hands.

"You will have to remove this and ice it every few hours." He told me.

"I know, I have done first aid." I replied.

"And as you have to rest it, it makes you rather useless for the remainder of this case." He continued, as if I hadn't spoken.

"Well as John is exorcising now, we might not be here much longer." Madoka said. "I'd like you to keep an eye on Mai, Noll. Soon as she can't be on her feet for a while, you'll have to bring her food and things." Although my eyes were still closed, I could imagine the smug look on Madoka's face, knowing the pain she was causing Naru by essentially making him my butler.

"Madoka?" I said. "Please will you make the tea? Naru's tea sucks."

"Oh I have that sorted." Naru said, and I opened my eyes. Before I could protest, he had picked me up the way a groom carries his bride and carried me through to the kitchen, where he sat me on the worktop. He put the kettle on, and then passed me the box of tea and cups. "There you go, you can still make the tea. I guess you are useful after all."

**Author's note: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! Especially those who commented on the artwork I uploaded for the cover. Please review!**


	15. Chapter 15: Oliver

Throughout the rest of the afternoon, Mai had me do things for her just because she could; ranging from passing her things slightly out of her reach to sending me to the local shop to buy ice cream.

"This is fun." Mai said happily, as she ate ice cream directly from the tub.

"What is?" I said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Having a slave." She looked so pleased with herself. Eugh. How could I remain mad at her? I had tried to shut down the shields and she had just busted straight through them as if they were water vapour.

"And what would you have me do next, mistress?" I asked subserviently. "Strip for you?" I added with a smirk. She blushed.

"Go on then." She called my bluff. Well she wasn't going to win this. We were currently alone in the base, so I started to undo the buttons of my shirt. I watched as her eyes widened in shock, but she didn't stop me.

I pulled my shirt off and threw it down at her. I was just pulling my belt out of my trousers when Madoka, Lin and John walked in.

"Noll what on earth are you doing?" Madoka asked.

"I have no idea Madoka; he just started taking his clothes off!" Mai squealed quickly. I narrowed my eyes at her and she smirked back up at me.

"I don't even want to know. Noll, put your clothes on." Madoka said in a tired voice. I scooped my shirt and dressed. "John has exorcised the area and felt resistance at one point. So we think he got the bugger. We're going to stay overnight and until lunchtime tomorrow to check it's gone. I want to arrange night shifts now."

"I'd really appreciate some sleep." John said. He did sound exhausted.

"I'll take the first shift." Mai said from behind me.

"Mai, you can't do it alone, you can't even walk." Lin said, ever the voice of reason.

"My slave will stay with me then." She said.

"Then I'll take the second shift." Lin said.

"I'll take the third." Madoka finished. "Glad that's sorted, takeaway for dinner?"

Everyone agreed and Madoka went to order food, but I distinctly heard her mutter 'And I thought I was the kinky one' as she left.

John muttered something about changing out of his priest robes and disappeared, Lin sat down in front of the cameras and I joined Mai on the sofa. As I did not wish to sit by her feet, I sat so she was leaning her body against mine.

She offered me a spoonful of her ice cream which I ate although I am not a big fan of sweet things. Mai smiled up at me and I felt a warm feeling in my chest. This girl was seriously getting to me.

After dinner, John went to bed. The poor man looked shattered. I forced Mai to ice her ankle again, much to her displeasure. Lin went to be not long after John, as he was taking the middle shift which was by far the worst.

Madoka read for a while before heading up to bed, as she left she stuck her head back through the door for some parting words.

"Normally I would tell the pair of you to just fuck already, but we are in a client house. So please hold it in until we are home."

I rolled my eyes at her and looked around at Mai, whose cheeks were as red as a tomato.

"Are you alright?" I asked, smiling smugly at her. "You weren't thinking about such thoughts were you?" I said in mock disgust.

"Not about you I wasn't." She retorted, pouting.

"Really? So who?" I enquired.

"Shinji." She replied and laughter burst out of my mouth before I could stop it.

"Really?"

"You're a git."

"You're the one that likes me." I pointed out and she scowled at me.

"I hate you."

"Of course you do." I smirked, leaning closer to her on the sofa. "That's why you kissed me."

"You kissed me back." She responded quickly, as if this would somehow wound me.

"Yeah? I never said I hated you." She frowned at me. "You're an idiot."

She started pouting at me. It made me want to kiss her.

"Are you going to get help?" She asked suddenly.

"What?"

"About what happened earlier Naru, you need to see someone about it."

"I'm fine Mai." I heard the harshness in my own voice.

"There is no shame in needing help!" She begged and I could see tears filling her eyes. "Please, I am so worried about you." A single tear leaked out of her eye and I watched it slide down her beautiful face.

"If I do, will you go on a date with me?" I asked quietly.

"If you do…" She hesitated momentarily. "If you do and Gene confirms to me that you were honest with whoever you spoke to, then I will."

"You'll have Gene check up on me?"

"He does it anyway." She rolled her eyes. "But I will take advantage of it if I can."

I scowled at her and leant back on the sofa.

"I hope there's been no activity, I haven't been paying attention." She said a minute later.

"There hasn't been, I have kept an eye on it." I replied. It was true.

"You should get some sleep, soon as you're driving tomorrow." She said.

"But I have to stay here."

"Kip on the sofa then." She said. She shuffled aside a bit. "Come on, you can use me as a pillow if you like." The idea was tempting. She pulled me down so my head was resting in her lap. She was warm and comfortable, so I curled my legs up onto the sofa and closed my eyes. I could feel her stroking my hair softly, but her touch didn't bother me, it was relaxing.

She woke me a few hours later and I went to wake Lin up. When I returned I scooped her into my arms and carried her upstairs to the bedroom so she could change. I dragged my sleeping bag and pillow over so they were next to hers and then helped her to the bathroom.

Once she was done, I carried her back through and set her gently in her own sleeping bag. She rolled over and snuggled up to me, which I appreciated. I was glad we had sorted out whatever was going on between us.

I put an arm around Mai and kissed the top of her head before closing my eyes and falling asleep.

The following day, we ensured the spirit was gone. Then we packed up and headed home. It was another long drive and thus it was late when we finally arrived back at the office.

"Damn, how am I going to get my car home?" Mai said out loud as she hobbled out of the van.

"I'll drive it for you." I offered. She turned to glare at me.

"You aren't on the insurance."

"As if I'd crash it." I rolled my eyes at her.

"Mai, just leave the car here, we can give you a lift until your ankle has healed." Madoka said. I helped Mai into Madoka's car and gave her a long look. I wanted to say something, but knew not what. She didn't seem to sense any of this though and smiled at me as the car pulled away.

It wasn't until Friday that Mai could walk properly, and even then she was still limping a little. Just before lunch, I had an appointment with a doctor. I knew my voice had sounded mechanical as I explained to the man what the issue was, but he seemed sympathetic to my plight and had suggestions on how to move forward.

When I arrived back at the office, Mai was asleep on the sofa and I sincerely hoped Gene was reporting to her. It turned out my guess was correct, as when Mai woke she came over to my desk and kissed me on the cheek before returning to her own desk.

I watched her walk away and smirked to myself before returning to work.

When the clock struck 5pm, I gathered up my things and walked over to Mai's desk. She was chewing a pen and concentrating on something on the screen. Gently, I pulled her away from her desk.

"Naru? What are you doing?" She was trying to sound annoyed. "I'm trying to work."

"It's time to go home." I pointed out.

"Yeah but I'm almost finished." She complained.

"Alright." I let go of her hands and she stepped back. "I'll go on a date by myself." I said as I turned on my heel and started walking to the office door.

"What?"

"You said if I went to see someone, you'd go on a date with me." I explained, not looking round. "But if you're not coming, I'll go alone." I had reached the door.

"Where?" She sounded suspicious.

"The theatre." I opened the door and started through it.

"Why?"

"Why do people usually go to the theatre Mai?" I called through the door. Then I started down the steps, wondering how long it would take for her to catch up with me.

She came crashing into me as I left the building. I smirked as I turned to face her.

"Yes Mai?"

"I'd like to come." She said, blushing.

"Good, you can drive us there." I strode out of the building and towards her car, she followed in my wake.

"What are we going to see?"

"Swan lake." I replied.

"A ballet?" She sounded shocked. I suppose she had reason to, I don't think ballet is what most people would choose for a first date.

"Yes, problem?"

"No, I'm just surprised." She replied as she unlocked her car. "I wouldn't have guessed you would enjoy that sort of thing."

"I like the music." It was true, Tchaikovsky was one of my favourite composers and while I could appreciate the skill of the dancers, it was the music that made the performance in my mind.

We stopped by Mai's place on the way back, so she could change out of her work clothes and then by mine, so I could do the same thing. We arrived a little early to the theatre, so I bought Mai a drink and we sat at the bar until they would let us in.

"How did the appointment go?" She asked after taking a sip of her drink.

"Gene didn't tell you everything?" I asked in return.

"No, he just told me you went and were honest. He said that the rest was up to you if you wanted to let me know."

"How considerate of him."

"Yeah, he doesn't gossip about you at all." Mai told me. "But he promised that if you were ever a prat, then he'd give me ammunition to embarrass you with."

"I have never embarrassed myself."

She laughed softly and rolled her eyes at me.

"Sure, so you never apologised to a wall when you walked into it?"

"He told you that?" I said, mildly irritated. So once I had walked into a wall and not realised it was a wall because I had been reading. Automatically, I had apologised and continued on my way. Everyone acted like this was some big deal or something.

"No, Madoka told me." She said, laughing at the annoyance on my face.

"Well she should learn to keep her trap shut." I said darkly. "I suppose she didn't tell you of the times when my father walked in on her and Lin making out in the library? Or the BSPR conference room? Or the broom cupboard?"

"She didn't tell me about the broom cupboard, but I bet I've heard more details about the conference room." Mai replied cheekily.

"I have heard enough of their sex life. Literally." I said.

"Back to the point, how did the appointment go?"

"Fine. He's recommended EMDR." At the confused look on her face, I continued. "Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing. The issues I am having are due to my brain not processing the event, so they stimulate a part of the brain and force it to deal with what's happened basically."

"Does it work?"

"Yes."

"I'm proud of you, you know." Mai said quietly after a minute.

"For what?"

"Going and being honest. I know it couldn't've been easy."

Outwardly, I scoffed at the notion. But internally, I felt warm. No one had told me they were proud of me in so long. I couldn't remember the last time anyone had said that. Everyone just expected me to do well at everything and thus had long ago given up praising me. I hadn't thought I needed praise, but only now I realised how much what she had said to me meant.

I took her hand as we walked into the theatre and took our seats. I continued to hold her hand throughout the performance, relinquishing it only to let Mai go to the toilet at the interval.

Afterwards, we walked out to Mai's car together still holding hands. Mai was gushing about the performance and how impressed she was with the dancers. However, when we got into Mai's car, she surprised me with a question.

"Do you want to come back to mine? Lin and Madoka have moved out now, so we'd be alone if you want…" She trailed off, looking slightly embarrassed.

"Well I wouldn't mind some tea." I replied honestly. Though I suspected she was hinting at something else.

Back at her apartment, she gestured to me to make myself at home and then started making tea.

"Madoka and Lin took the TV I'm afraid." She said sadly. "I have to move out on Sunday."

"Have you found somewhere?"

"Nope." She was trying to sound unconcerned, but an inkling of worry had crept into her voice.

"My offer stands." I said.

"What offer?"

"The one I made where you could come and live with me."

"But you only have one bed." She pointed out.

"Is that a problem?" I asked as she handed me a cup of tea.

"Well that would mean we'd have to sleep in the same bed." She said quietly.

"We've done it before Mai." I said blandly.

"Yes and the last time that happened somebody got a raging boner."

"Do you really have to bring that up?" I asked exasperatedly.

"Aww, do you not like being reminded of your human attributes?" Mai teased. I rolled my eyes at her and took a long drink from my cup.

"So do you want to move in with me?" I asked.

"I wouldn't mind." She said shyly. Then she leant forwards and kissed me softly. I stared at her, it had been totally unexpected.

I put the cup of tea down on the coffee table and shifted my position so that I was closer to her. Slowly, I leant even closer and kissed her gently back. Mai deepened the kiss and I did not resist her efforts. I closed my eyes and lost myself as she pushed me back. I could feel a hand snaking up my shirt and feeling my chest. Her touch was so gentle it almost tickled.

Then she broke away and stared intently at me.

"Mai…?" But she cut me off by placing a finger on my lips. She stood up and pulled me with her. Mai led me to her bedroom and pushed me onto her bed. She quickly straddled me and started undoing the buttons of my shirt. "Mai what are we doing?" I asked as she pulled of her own shirt.

"Well I was going to follow Madoka's advice."

"What advice?" I frowned at her.

"Well, I believe her exact words were 'just fuck already'." Mai replied, obviously amused by my reaction.

"But I don't have a condom." I said, disappointed in my own preplanning. Though admittedly, I had not thought this would happen. She looked slightly disappointed herself, but recovered quickly.

"Lucky for you, there are lots of other things we can do." And she was kissing me again. I was scared to even touch her. Mai was sat on top of me in a mini skirt and her bra and was grinding against me. I wanted to caress her skin but didn't know if that was allowed. Tentatively, I placed my hands on her back and traced her spine gently with my fingertips. She shivered at my touch and moaned lightly. I took this as a good sign and continued, but she broke the kiss.

"Can the great Oliver Davis not undo a bra?" She asked smirking. Mai was enjoying having the upper hand. I narrowed my eyes at her and attempted to unhook the straps of her bra. I failed, miserably. Damn contraption. She laughed and sat up, reached behind her back, unhooked her bra and pulled it off in one smooth motion. This was a skill I needed to master.

I reached up and cupped her breast. It was unbelievably soft and felt wonderful.

"Stop acting like you've never touched a boob before." She said, mirth dancing in her eyes. Obviously some of my thoughts had shown on my face.

"I haven't." I replied and she looked taken aback. Then, as if to try and break the awkward feeling that had permeated the room, she kissed me again and I responded enthusiastically. Whoever knew sweet little Mai could be such a sexy little minx.

At this point, I had thought that if I could spend the rest of my life with Mai on top of me like this, I would die happy. But then my evening got a whole lot better.

Mai broke the kiss and started trailing pecks down the side of my neck and then my chest. She kept going until my trousers were in the way. I watched, slightly shocked, as she sat up and started undoing them. Mai pulled them down a little and took my tip into her mouth.

I groaned audibly as a tingling sensation shot through my body. Fuck. I had done things alone, but this felt better. So much better. I looked down at Mai and could tell just from her body language that she was enjoying the effect she was having over me. But I didn't care. My brain felt oddly void of thought, except for the wish that this feeling would never ever stop.

But the sensation was building rapidly and I tried to warn Mai what was about to happen, but she ignored me. My mind felt like it had exploded and my body cramped up in pleasure.

I let my body relax back onto the bed and I sighed contentedly, eyes closed. I felt Mai creep up and rest her head on my chest. I wanted nothing more than to fall asleep right there and then, but I couldn't. Not yet.

I pushed Mai off me and pulled my trousers back up, then rolled over so I was leaning over Mai. Gently, ever so gently, I started to place kisses on her neck and chest.

"Naru, you don't have to do anything!" She protested weakly and I looked up at her.

"I want to." I replied simply. I wasn't about to take my fill and just leave her hanging. I resume kissing her as I pulled off her skirt and underwear.

I parted her legs and lowered my face to her. As my tongue made contact, her whole body arched and Mai moaned. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't quite sure of what I was supposed to do. So I experimented and judged her reactions, then repeated what she seemed to enjoy.

The sounds Mai was making were annoyingly stimulating. The way her body was reacting to my touch was turning me on again. But then I felt her legs tense either side of my head and she went oddly still.

"Don't stop…" She panted desperately and I listened. A moment later her whole body shuddered and she let out an 'oh' of surprise. I moved away and wiped my mouth, waiting for her to say something. "That was…" She sounded dazed.

I watched as she slowly curled herself around and wriggled under the duvet.

"That was what?" I prompted. I needed to know; had I done it right?

"Come to bed, Naru." She said sleepily. I stripped down to my boxers and climbed in beside her after turning the light off. "That was great." She whispered to me. "No one's done that to me before."

"A first for both of us." I replied quietly. Mai wriggled under my arm and rested her head on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and closed my eyes, feeling genuinely happy and content.

"Well if that was anything to base it off, maybe living with you wouldn't be so bad." Mai muttered.

"Go to sleep Mai." I said, chuckling.

**Author's note: Sorry this took so long, I was away over the weekend and I really ought to start revising soon! Damn January exams! So apologise in advance as my upload rate is going to decrease :( Please review :)**


	16. Chapter 16: Mai

On Saturday morning, I woke early and drove back to mine in order to change clothing before driving to the office to pick up the van. Once I had the van – and had cleared up the mess from the last case – I drove back to Naru's apartment to pick him up.

It was a sunny day, yet I was still surprised when Naru appeared in chino shorts. I had never really seen his legs. Which much sound odd, but he had always worn long trousers.

"Have you booked tickets?" I asked as he climbed in the van beside me.

"Yes." He replied.

I pulled away and drove in silence to the orphanage. Naru jumped out when we arrived and collected Takako; who was beaming.

Once all back in the van, I started driving again. Takako was sitting between Naru and I and obviously could not stop smiling.

"So we are acting like a real family today?" The young girl asked about five minutes into the journey.

"If that's what you want." Naru replied, smirking.

"So you have to be my daddy." She said before turning to me. "And you're my mummy."

"And you want Mai and I to be married?"

"Well proper mummies and daddies are married." Takako replied, giving Naru an 'obviously' look.

"Geesh Naru, everyone knows that." I said, laughing.

"And Dad?" Takako prompted.

"Yes?"

"You and Mai have to be in love." Takako said seriously. "Because proper families love each other."

"I already do love Mai." Naru replied and I almost crashed the van.

"But you said she wasn't your princess!" Takako protested.

"Because had I said she was, Mai would have hit me."

"But why would she do that?" Takako asked, as if I wasn't even there.

"Because she was too stubborn to admit that she liked me." He sounded smug. What a git.

"Why?"

"Because for an intelligent woman, Mai can be surprisingly daft about some things."

"Should I take that as a compliment?" I butted in, thinking I should remind them of my presence.

"If you want." Naru replied, but Takako had spun around in her seat.

"Do you love Naru-nii?" She asked curiously. My cheeks started burning.

"I do care for him." I replied carefully.

"But do you luuuuurrrrrrvvveeee him?" She said, grinning annoyingly. I could feel Naru's eyes on my but fortunately I could not look around as I had to concentrate on driving.

"Yes."

Takako started giggling happily.

"Are you going to get married?"

"Maybe one day." Naru replied.

"Can I come?" Takako asked.

"You can be a bridesmaid." He told her.

"Are you going to have babies?"

"I don't know." Naru said. "What do you think?"

"Well, I will test you out today and see if you are good parents." Takako said, in a grown-up voice.

I pulled into the car park of the zoo and parked the van. Takako and Naru climbed out and waited for me to lock up.

"Wait!" Takako shouted a second later. "I forgot my lunch!"

"Well we don't have any lunch either, so we'll just buy lunch for everyone." Naru said and marched off towards the entry. Takako took my hand and pulled me after him.

"Dad! Wait up!" Takako yelled after Naru. It took him a moment to register she was talking to him, but he waited with his hand held out for Takako to take.

Naru sorted out collecting the tickets and we made our way into the zoo.

"What do you want to see first?" I asked Takako, who was staring around in wonder.

"Tigers!" She said, grinning up at me. Naru found the tiger enclosure on the map and led the way.

We spent the morning seeing various animals before stopping at the cafeteria for lunch.

"Mum? Can we go and see the sea lion show?" Takako asked through a mouthful of her lunch.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." I scolded. "And what time is it?"

"3o'clock I think." She replied after swallowing her food.

"We should have time to get to it." Naru said, checking the map.

"And then can we see the penguins being fed afterwards?" Takako pleaded through another mouthful of food.

"What did your mother tell you about talking with your mouth full?" Naru reprimanded.

"Sorry mum." Takako said, looking ashamed. "Sorry dad."

"And yes we can see the penguins afterwards, but after that we will have to go home."

"But we have to go to the shop first!"

"The shop?" Naru questioned incredulously as I sighed.

"Yes!" Takako said eagerly. I watched as she beamed up at Naru and his resolve to say 'no' dissolved.

Not long after, Naru and I were sitting at the back of the sea lion performance. Takako had run off to the front and we hadn't stopped her.

"She's having a good day hmm?" I prompted quietly as the keeper came out and began talking.

"Yes." Naru agreed. "She's controlling her psychometric ability very well."

"She had a good teacher."

"She is a bright girl." He corrected.

"I would tend to agree, but you were a good teacher." I said. It was true, I had watched them both as he taught her and he seemed to capture the young girl's attention and keep it while he talked.

He did not say anything, but I could see him watching Takako; who was cheering near the front of the crowd as one of the sea lions splashed the people in the front row.

"We should help more kids like her." Naru said after a few minutes. He took hold of my hand and turned to face me. "There have got to be loads of kids who can't control their abilities all over the world. What if we could help them?" His eyes had lit up with a passionate fire.

"How?" I frowned. "Bring them all to your apartment?"

"No, don't be daft, there isn't room." He turned away. "Have you seen X-men?"

"Only the first one." I replied. "A very long time ago."

"Well they had a school for the mutants. What if we started a school for young psychics?"

"How would we do that though?" I said, sounding sceptical. "Like a boarding school? And how would we fund it? And what about normal lessons?"

"Ask BSPR for funding, buy a big house and the students can live there. We can give them normal lessons alongside lessons in their abilities." Naru sounded genuinely enthusiastic about the idea.

"But what about ghost hunting? About making parapsychology a recognised science?"

"The rest of BSPR can do that!" Naru replied, heatedly. "I've had enough of it! It took my brother and half my face."

I didn't reply for a few minutes, mulling over the idea in my head.

"You'd have to teach in English." I said finally.

"What?"

"Well if you want to help kids from all over the world, it'd have to be in English." I explained further. "English is the most commonly spoken language."

"Yes, you're right." He agreed. "I would have to learn a few other languages though, to help teach the kids English."

"Would you do it here? In Japan?" I asked, not sure if I fit into this plan.

"Could do, the food is better here. But if BSPR funds it then they will want to do it in England, closer to the University." He frowned. "I would have to make sure BSPR does not test any of them, not until they are 18 at least. We could protect them as well as teach them."

"We?" I asked quietly.

"Well you don't have to join me." Naru said, looking down. "If you want to stay at JSPR, I wouldn't stop you!"

"Do you really think that you could get it funded?"

"I think I might. Although not all students would want to go into paranormal research, a fair few would, it would be a guaranteed intake of psychics for them. We'd have to do trips to BSPR and other branches as part of the curriculum or something, but it'd work."

The show came to an end and Takako stormed up to see us.

"Stop snogging and hurry up!" She whined. "We need to see the penguins!" Takako grabbed my hand and started dragging me after her, I pulled Naru behind me and the three of us rushed off to the penguin enclosure.

We arrived a little early and I waited with Takako as Naru strode over to the keeper who was preparing the feed. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but had an inkling of an idea.

"What's Naru-nii doing?" Takako asked me quietly.

"Just checking when it starts probably." I lied.

"But we know when it starts." Takako frowned at me.

"Well he likes to check things."

Naru re-joined us a few seconds later and smiled triumphantly at me, then down at Takako. But before she could ask anything, the show started and she rushed to the front.

"Did you do what I think you did?" I asked him, as we followed slowly.

"Just listen." He replied, smirking. So I tuned into what the keeper was saying.

"…Help me? I am looking for the daughter of a knight and a princess. Does anyone here fit that criteria?" The old man was saying. Although I couldn't see Takako's face, I saw her posture freeze up for a second.

"Me!" She shouted, putting her hand in the air.

I watched as the zookeeper let her in through the gate, gave her some gloves and let her demonstrate for the crowd how to feed the penguins. The young girl was grinning from ear to ear and Naru was smirking. It was obvious how pleased he was with himself.

After the feeding, Takako ran back to us after thanking the keeper and hugged us both. I think she knew that Naru had organised it, but didn't know how to thank him enough for the day she had had.

The three of us walked hand in hand to the shop on the way out.

"You can have any one thing." Naru told Takako. "Go and pick one thing."

Takako chose a fluffy penguin toy and Naru paid for it without looking at the price tag. We walked back to the van hand in hand. Takako was walking slowly, as if walking slower would extend the day.

"Well I think you two would make great parents." Takako said, once we were all sat inside the van, about to depart.

"Thank you and you would make a fine daughter." Naru replied.

"The lady in the office said that if today went well and I had no problems then I would be allowed to be put up for adoption." Takako told us, she sounded almost sad.

"That's wonderful." I said. "You'll be able to have a real family and everything, like we did today."

"But you can't be my parents can you?"

"No." Naru said. "We are not suitable, but you'll find some people who are."

The drive back to the orphanage was silent, not one of us spoke.

Naru took Takako back inside the orphanage when we arrived. I watched him bend down and whisper something to her before he returned to the van.

"What did you tell her?" I asked, as he closed the door.

"That if things changed, I would adopt her as soon as I could." He said, looking away. I wondered briefly if he succumbed to tears, but shook the idea from my head. It had been a long day.

**Author's note: I would love to hear how you guys think I should end this, because the end is near! Also, I am going to write a series of one-shots that I might make into new stories if you like them! So please review :)**


	17. Chapter 17: Oliver

We spent Sunday morning moving all of Mai's things from her old apartment to mine. While she started unpacking her belongings, I began writing a proposal about the idea I had had.

The basic principle was simple; take a big old house and turn the upper floors into dormitories. The lower floors would be classrooms, a dining hall and living areas. The students would be taught in most usual subjects, plus parapsychology and then personal or small group tutoring with their own abilities. The main language would have to be English, though I think a strong emphasis on teaching other languages would be a bonus. It would not be a fee paying school, though perhaps parents could assist with boarding costs. Most staff would have to live onsite.

There would have to be compulsory work experience done at BSPR, else they will not fund it, but I think that is a minor ask of any child and it's not as if we could not arrange other placements if they wanted.

The school would have to start small, perhaps only 20 students, but it could grow quickly if proven successful. Small classes would ensure a good teaching quality. I would ask Lin to teach there and perhaps Bou-san. To be honest it is a shame Yasuhara has a job, I'm sure he would prove a useful addition. Although asking these people would then perhaps force their partners to come too; Madoka could returned to BSPR easily, Ayako could be part of the school if she wanted. Having a qualified doctor would be useful surely. But what of JSPR? This would certainly kill it.

And how to get Takako there? I cannot prove my income in this school would be enough to look after her, but she was the whole inspiration for it. Not having her there makes the whole idea pointless. Unless my parents take her in…

My mother would have no objections I am sure, what mother does not want a daughter, and I doubt my father would even notice. I could then see her as much as she wanted and give her the life she deserves.

I was so caught up in my ideas that I did not realise Mai was reading over my shoulder, though I doubt she could understand much as I had written in English.

"You're really serious about this huh?" She said quietly as she sat down beside me. "And you would take Lin and Bou-san?"

"These are just ideas, though Lin is a very good teacher."

"And what would Bou-san teach?" She asked somewhat sceptically.

"Religious studies and Music of course."

"Music? You would teach them music?"

"Yes of course. Everyone likes music."

"But it'd be in England wouldn't it?" She asked, sadly.

"Probably, in order to get BSPR to fund it anyway." I replied.

"So you are going back? And taking everyone else with you?" She said quietly. I watched her for a moment; did she think I wanted to leave her behind?

"You can come too if you want? Even if you don't want to be part of the school, I can get you on any team in BSPR that you care to join." I explained.

"But I can't speak English." She said, she wasn't looking at me.

"Mai, I will teach you English."

"But you want me to give up my life here? And all my friends? For your dream?"

I did not know what to say and thus just stared at her.

"Mai, if you want to stay I won't stop you. You can have this apartment and…"

"But if you are taking Lin and Madoka, BSPR won't let me run JSPR will they?" She retorted. "And who would be on the team? Just me and occasionally John?"

"Mai, you are assuming this will even happen, they are quite likely to turn this down." I said. Sadly, it was true; this would be an expensive venture for them without much return.

She turned away from me, I could tell she was upset by the idea of everyone leaving.

"Mai, I would happily stay in Japan working at JSPR with you for the rest of my life. But since the incident, I have lost my enthusiasm for my work. Teaching Takako brought a spark of that back and the thought of repeating that on a larger scale…" I told her. "If it happened, I would love you to come with me but I understand if you want to stay here."

"Did you mean what you said yesterday?" Mai asked after a few minutes silence.

"I said a lot yesterday, what incident are you referring too?" I asked, though I had an idea.

"When you told Takako that you…" She started to blush. "That you loved me?"

"Of course I did."

"But you've been here a month? If that?" She said, frowning. "How do you know?"

"I think I cared for you before I left Japan, when I came back, those feelings just came flooding back." I said and then paused before continuing awkwardly. "I care about you a lot and those are the only words I know to convey that."

"Finish your proposal." She said.

"What will you do? If they say yes?" I asked earnestly, I did not want to lose Mai.

"I'll think about it." And she returned to unpacking her things.

I suppose it was a bit crazy. Mai was right, I had been back about a month, we had been together for less than a week and I was asking her to move the other side around the world with me.

The rest of the afternoon was spent perfecting the document I was preparing. I sent it to my father just as Mai called that dinner was ready; living with Mai was proving a good choice.

My father responded surprisingly quickly. The following morning, just as I arrived at work, my phone rang, which made it around midnight in the UK.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Noll, I love this idea of yours but I don't know how much funding I can throw at it. I have a location in mind and Luella is all for adopting the Souma girl if this all goes ahead. She wants to fly over next weekend to meet her if that's alright?" My father replied without as much as a greeting.

"Great." I said, knowing he needed to no further encouragement.

"I will talk with the board etcetera and get back to you ASAP. I have a few candidates here for potential teachers."

"Okay."

"I'll talk to you soon." He finished. "Bye son." And he hung up.

"Who was that?" Mai asked from her desk, she was peering curiously at me.

"My father, about the idea I sent him."

But before I could say anything further, Madoka came out of her office.

"_Noll, I have just read the proposal Martin sent me, when were you going to tell me about it?"_ She asked in English, presumably because she'd just been reading in English.

"_Well I only sent it to him last night, so I would have told you this morning but he seems to have beaten me to it."_ I replied, switching languages in an instant.

_"__He seems keen on the idea, though this would probably mean shutting down the JSPR branch as you'd have to have Lin there."_ She mused. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mai fold her arms in frustration at not understanding anything and turn back to her work. Before I could say anything to her, Lin appeared.

"_Taking Lin where?"_ He asked, joining in the conversation. Madoka handed him a print out of the proposal and he read it quickly. _"Seriously? You want me to teach?"_

_"__Give over Lin, you're a great teacher."_ Madoka said.

Then Mai turned to Lin and started talking in a language I could not understand, I think it was probably some form of Chinese, because Lin smirked and replied.

"Mai what are you saying? Lin?" Madoka returned to Japanese. Mai ignored her and continued her conversation with Lin in Chinese. "Okay, we get your point Mai."

"Madoka was just asking about the proposal I sent to my father." I explained.

"Noll, start giving Mai English lessons now. I think they are needed." Madoka said, before walking back to her office.

I sighed and turned to Mai, who was glaring at me.

"What?" I asked.

"This is pointless." She replied. "I have tried so many times to learn English and it just doesn't stick. Chinese; easy. Korean; fine. Latin; okay. Even a bit of German, but English is just awful and stupid."

"Can you write the alphabet?" I asked, ignoring her rant.

"Of course." She huffed.

"Show me." I commanded and she pulled some paper from the printer draw and started scribbling the Roman alphabet. "And capitals." I added. She glared at me before writing the capital counterparts. "Good."

She rolled her eyes. This was going to be painful.

"Alright what would you like to know how to say?" I asked, wanting to know something made it a lot easier to learn.

"How about 'Naru is an idiot'?"

I rolled my eyes, but decided to play along.

"Good a place as any to start with." I said. "_Naru is an idiot._" I said as I wrote it out underneath the alphabets she'd written earlier. I spent the rest of the day explaining the various meanings of words and sentence structures. It was weird having to think out something that I did so naturally.

Madoka instructed me to continue teaching Mai when we got home and even though I could tell Mai was getting frustrated, she was improving. She remembered some aspects of the language from her high school education, but had an issue with all the exceptions to the rules.

Eventually, she had had enough and refused to say anything further. When I pressed the matter, she started replying in what I think was Korean and refused to speak to me even in Japanese.

The following day, the lessons continued. I had spent the rest of Monday evening trying to plan out a teaching schedule for what I would teach Mai and by when. It was hard trying to balance the new to old content ratios. I did not want to overload her with new things, but equally, I did not want to be going so slowly she was bored, especially as she found the whole subject frustrating anyway.

On Wednesday I received a call confirming that my proposal had been accepted. Initially we would be allowed 20 students and my father was already organising a location. The follow-up email also had a list of potential students and teachers and the details of the flight my parents were getting the following weekend.

I will admit it was quite daunting how quickly everything seemed to be moving. My father wanted the school up and running by September – October at the latest - so they could start a full academic year.

The email also detailed how I was expected to write an entry test for incoming students to judge their previous education, come up with teaching plans for the year and provisional timetables.

About ten minutes after we arrived home, I received another phone call.

"Hello?"

"Naru-nii! You have to come and rescue me!" It was Takako, it sounded like she was crying.

"What's wrong?" I asked, taking a seat on the sofa.

"Well the office lady said I'd been put back on the list to be adopted and that some old people want to adopt me and I don't want to live with old people! I want to live with you and Mai-nee!" She wailed and I realised I had never told her about the idea I had had, and that I had asked my parents to look into adopting her. "And they are coming to see me at the weekend and the office lady said they were old and foreign! Please rescue me!" She continued.

"Takako, did she tell you their names?" I asked reasonably.

"Maatin and Ruerra." She replied, stumbling over the foreign names.

"Wonderful." I replied."

"How is that wonderful?!" She almost screamed at me. "You are supposed to be a proper knight in shining armour!"

"Takako, calm down and listen to me." I said. "Did I ever tell you I was also adopted?"

"No." She said quietly.

"Well I was when I was eight years old. My twin brother and I were adopted and taken to England and we were happy."

"But I want to live with you and Mai-nee!" She whined. I ignored her and continued.

"Takako, I told you I could not adopt you because I do not earn enough, do you remember?"

"Yes." She replied sullenly.

"However, I will soon be moving away to start a new job, teaching children with special abilities like yours."

"So you'll have enough then?" She asked hopefully.

"Unlikely, but I would like you to attend the new school I will be working at, you'd be around people like you and then I could teach you all the time."

"I suppose that'd be better than never seeing you ever." She mused.

"Well in order to do that, I asked some people I know to look into adopting you. Their names are Martin and Luella." I said, and I could almost hear the lightbulb click in Takako's head.

"So you know them? Are they nice?" She started badgering me with questions about them.

"Yes, they are my parents." I said finally and Takako squealed so loudly that I had to hold my phone away from my ear.

"So you really will be my big brother?" She said.

"Well if you like them and want them to adopt you, then yes. But if you don't, then we can just continue being friends okay? I don't want you to feel pressured into saying yes, alright?" I emphasised this strongly.

"Okay. I better go because I'm not allowed on the phone for very long!" Takako said, sounding much happier.

"Alright, I will come at the weekend too, okay?"

"Yes please! Bye bye Naru-nii!" She finished the call and I dumped my phone on the coffee table.

"Takako I am guessing?" Mai asked from the kitchen, where she was cooking us dinner.

"Yes, they'd told her about my parents wanting to adopt her and she was worried about it." I told her.

"So everything is going ahead?"

"I think so."

Mai turned back to whatever she was cooking, and I joined her in the kitchen as close as I could without being too near to the hob, despite the lack of open flames.

"I've been thinking." She said finally. "About whether I would come with you or not, and I have made a decision."

"Go on?" I asked tentatively.

"I want you to complete the EMDR thing, and when you can light a match without flinching away or having a panic attack, then I will come with you." She said quietly. "I want you to get better."

"Okay." Her request was not unreasonable; it was honestly what I was planning to do anyway. It was currently mid-May, which gave us months before the school needed to be open. The EMDR was supposed to be a relatively quick acting treatment; the doctor said that it would only take a few sessions. The longest he'd personally ever seen someone undergo it was eight weeks.

We ate dinner and then I resumed the English lessons Mai hated so much. So to make it more interesting, I gave her a kiss for everything she got right. However, Mai liked to hijack these kisses. I intended them to be just little pecks, but she turned them into long and passionate embraces that threw teaching English out of my mind.

I suppose that was her intention.

"Mai, I am trying to teach you here." I said, after breaking apart yet again.

"I think you're failing." She teased. "You don't like failing."

"No I don't, so start behaving."

"Blaming your failures on me?" She said. "How very unprofessional of you!"

"Well…" I started, but she cut me off with another kiss. Dammit.

"Let's do body parts." Mai said finally. "I'll kiss somewhere and you tell me the word for it."

I had this strange feeling this was going to suddenly get a lot dirtier.

"Alright." I agreed. "But if you have to take off any clothing to reach said body part, you have to tell me the word for that item of clothing." We had done clothes earlier that day, so it would count as good revision.

She started innocent. My forehead, my cheeks, the tip of my nose. Then things started to get interesting. My lips, my neck…

"_Shirt._" She said as she started unbuttoning my shirt and threw it aside. My neck again, then my chest, then my stomach… "You didn't tell me the word for belt." She complained as she reached my trousers.

"I didn't think I'd need too." I replied. Belt was basically an English word anyway!

"_Bert?_" She guessed hopefully.

"_Belt._" I corrected and she repeated it a few times as she removed my belt. "_Trousers. Pants._ I sat there, naked apart from my socks, gazing at the pleased look on her face. Then she started taking off her own clothes, reciting as she went. "_Top. Skirt. Bra. Pants._"

"Girls generally say _knickers_. I told her. _Pants_ is more for male underwear. Girls wear _knickers _or_ thongs _or_ panties _or something_._"

"You seem to know a lot about girls' underwear."

"_Well I like wearing them._" I joked and waited for her to translate. I watched as a frown appeared on her face.

"I've never seen you wear girls' underwear." She jumped up and started towards the bedroom, seemingly uncaring of the fact she was completely naked. I bundled up all the clothes and followed her.

Leaving the clothes by the dirty laundry basket, I watched as she sifted through my drawers.

"There is no girls' underwear here." She said finally. "Did I get it wrong?"

"No, you got it right, it was a joke." I said, kissing her forehead.

"Oh…" She said, her frown now fading. "_Forehead._" She suddenly added, obviously remembering.

"Okay, new game." I said as I wrapped my arms around her. "If you want me to _kiss_ or _touch_ somewhere, you have to tell me where and vice versa." I demonstrated by kissing and then touching her cheek with my hand as I spoke, she seemed to get the idea. Mai pulled me onto our bed and started testing her English knowledge.

By the end of the evening, Mai was very good at body parts. Well, some body parts…

**Author's note: Please review! Reviews make me happy!**


	18. Chapter 18: Mai

Bou-san was released from hospital on Friday. He and Ayako visited us in the office for a drink and to catch up on recent events. Naru arrived back from therapy about ten minutes after the couple arrived. He said 'hello' then went directly to his desk and begun work; presumably on the school plans.

I saw Bou-san peering curiously at Naru and remembered he had yet to see Naru's face; something I had long gotten used to.

"So are you and him actually together now?" Bou-san asked a few minutes later. I paused before answering, Naru and I had never gone through the formalities of asking each other out or anything but surely…

"Well he never asked me, so…" I raised my voice so Naru would hear me before trailing off.

"What's this? Naru not doing things properly? Very unlike him." Bou-san teased as Ayako laughed softly. I could hear Naru sighing from his desk. "That reminds me, I need to have a word with that boy about his intentions for you, young Mai." I laughed at his brotherly tone. "No time like the present, Naru? What are you intentions with Mai?" Bou-san raised his voice so Naru could not ignore him. I twisted in my seat so I could see Naru better.

"I don't feel the need to answer that question." He replied coldly. I chuckled and rolled my eyes.

"So you have been sleeping with her for over a week and you haven't even asked her out? I don't think these intentions are honest." Bou-san said, trying to provoke a response.

Naru did not respond, so I decided to help Bou-san out.

"Did I tell you about the other girl in his life?" I prompted, Bou-san raised an eyebrow. "Ayako introduced them, she's very pretty and absolutely smitten with him. Convinced he's a knight in shining armour." Ayako laughed at how I had twisted the situation.

"Well the amount of times he saved you, he is like a knight I guess." Bou-san replied. "Though I would hardly call a black suit shining armour."

"Well Takako would probably disagree."

"You are distracting me from the point. Naru, are you asking Mai out or not?"

Naru sighed heavily.

"Mai, do you want me to ask you out?" He said, sounding tired.

"Depends, do you want me to be your girlfriend?" I replied, smirking at the look of exasperation on his face.

"Mai, will you go out with me?" Naru said, not even looking up from what he was writing.

"So romantic." Ayako muttered.

"Alright." I replied, ignoring Ayako.

"My mother will have a field day." Naru said. Then he got up from his desk and started towards the kitchen. I took my cue and joined him, guessing he wanted a cup of tea.

"I need to talk to you about my parents." He said as I started making his beverage.

"What about them?"

"Well mainly my mother, she will go over the top." He said darkly. "So when she starts talking about marriage, children and the like, please ignore her."

"That'd be rude Naru." I scolded. "I am an adult, I can deal with other adults."

"Although marrying you would make visa issues easier." He muttered, ignoring me.

"Such a romantic."

"Thanks for the tea." He took his cup and walked back out of the kitchen. I followed to hear him speak to Bou-san. "How is your English Bou-san?"

"_Rusty, but alright. Why?_" Bou-san replied.

"_Are you done with the music industry after the incident?"_

_"__Undecided. Why?"_

_"__I have a job offer for you. Teaching kids with psychic abilities in England. A position is yours if you want it."_

_"__I will think on it."_

I could follow the gist of the conversation, but translating was making my head hurt. Ayako was watching the two men speak and I could see her trying to see what this would mean for her relationship with Bou-san.

That night, while cuddled on the sofa, Naru confessed how vulnerable the therapy had left him. He likened the feeling to scraping a cut with sandpaper, rubbing it raw. I held him close; I could hear the anger in his voice at his own weakness and didn't know any other way to comfort him.

The following day, Naru's parents arrived, but it wasn't until Sunday that we all went to see Takako. Martin and Luella looked no different than they had 10 years ago, and as Naru predicted, Luella was gushing all over us. Fortunately, Martin spoke to her in English and obviously steered the conversation back to the matters of the day; Takako.

The young girl was waiting for us all in the entrance of the orphanage. I introduced everyone, and we went through to an empty room provided for us by the orphanage. Takako thoroughly impressed the couple. Though I'm not sure how she wouldn't have impressed them, the girl was bright and thoroughly complimented their son.

"Mai-nee, when are you going to be part of the family too?" Takako asked me later, when Luella and Martin were talking to the orphanage staff and Naru had excused himself.

"I will be at this school in England too, if that's what you mean?"

"No, I mean properly part of the family." Takako said. "On the day we went to the zoo, you said you might get married one day, but when?"

"Well he only asked me to be his girlfriend yesterday, so probably not for some time."

Takako frowned at me, then grabbed my hand and screwed up her face for a few seconds.

"Next summer. I think it'll be next summer." She said, as Naru returned to the room.

"Why do you say that?" I squinted at her. Was she using psychometry on me to see the future? Could you do that?

"No reason." She said, grinning.

"What are you two plotting?" Naru asked, taking a seat beside me.

"Nothing." Takako and I said simultaneously, then we both giggled. Naru narrowed his eyes at us, before one of the orphanage workers came in to take Takako back to her room.

We bid our farewells and joined Naru's parents out the front of the orphanage. We dined out together, speaking most in English at Naru's suggestion to force me to practice. My limited vocabulary was a slight issue, but Luella promised to teach me more English once we moved to England.

They were talking about the plans and it dawned on me how suddenly it was all going to happen. Martin expected us to leave Japan in a month or so with Takako. He was waiting on replies from several other people he'd asked to teach and from even more potential students. Luella was talking about how she planned to decorate the building they had bought for the school and how the grounds were so beautiful. Naru seemed to be in 'Oliver' mode and coldly giving suggestions and tweaking ideas. I felt somewhat overwhelmed by the whole situation.

Before long I gave up trying to keep up with the stream of English. It was so easy just to tune out to the weird foreign sounds.

It wasn't until late that we finally parted and Naru and I returned to our flat. As we lay in bed, I brought up the thing that I had been wondering since we left the orphanage.

"Naru, can psychometry be used to see the future?"

"It's a lot rarer. More often, psychometric users will see past or current events as they are more certain. But some users do see the future."

"Have you ever?"

"I don't know, I might have done without realising it."

"I think Takako can do it."

"Why do you say that?"

"Just something she said today."

"I will have a word with her." Naru said, pulling me closer. "We should sleep, long day of English lessons tomorrow."

I groaned and he chuckled.

"_Goodnight Mai."_

_"__Goodnight Naru."_

**Author's note: Sorry about this being so short, but I have exams (they end on 23rd Jan) and then i shall write lots so please forgive me! I have some new ideas too that I shall write up at some point. Sorry again!**


	19. Chapter 19: Oliver

We left Japan on the 1st July. My mother had taken over the English lessons with Mai, as she was teaching Takako as well.

I was now able to hold a lit match without flinching or experiencing flashbacks. I had wondered if my abilities would return, soon as my brain was over the trauma that I had thought had supressed them, but they had not appeared yet. Once or twice, I had tried to induce a psychometric vision but to no avail.

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure if I wanted them to return.

Lin and Madoka had come to England too. Lin was going to teach while Madoka was returning to BSPR, though she agreed to teach any interested students about Ghost Hunting, as she had to do that anyway at the office with the new recruits.

Our summer was spent painting the interior of the new school. It was a rural and old building with a large amount of land. My father had arranged for a barn on the site to be demolished and replaced with a sports hall of sorts.

Every lunchtime we'd all pile into the garden and eat lunch together, every day I felt my parents eyes on me and I knew they were questioned my considerably more relaxed behaviour. Thankfully, they just accepted it and presumably were happy for me.

Takako had picked up English astonishingly fast, admittedly she had been watching English films every night since we'd arrived here and had soaked up the language like a sponge. She seemed very happy here, though was obviously looking forward to the students arriving at the end of summer, she needed some friends her own age.

As a result of this, I asked my father to see the list of students and tried to work out if we could arrange for a few students to arrive earlier. I suggested the idea of the international students arriving a few weeks early in order to acclimatise and my father agreed it would be a good idea.

So two weeks before the due start date, eight of the 20 students arrived. Their ages ranged between eight and 15 years old. I took charge of the older students and ensured they were comfortable, while I let Mai and Takako handle the younger students. It was quite amusing by now, listening to Mai and Takako speak to each other. They were both trying their hardest to speak English, but both would throw in the occasional Japanese word when they were struggling. While I could understand everything they said, it was odd to hear the mix of languages.

Fortunately, Takako hit it off with a few of the students and they spent their last few free days running around the site and trying out the completed sports hall. The international students were from all around the world, there was another Japanese kid, two from Germany, one from India, one from Kenya, one Russian and two Americans. While the Franca lingua was English, the range of languages being spoken was fantastic. Takako had hit it off with the Russian kid and they were teaching each other their languages.

It made me ridiculously happy just thinking about it.

Everything was going perfectly, two days before the start of school, the rest of the kids arrived. A day before, Bou-san and Ayako arrived. Bou-san had agreed to take the job if there was a position for Ayako too. Well what school, especially one full of children with special abilities, wouldn't need a school nurse?

Ayako had insisted we call her position 'school doctor' but otherwise seemed okay with the situation.

Everything was ready and going well…

And then it happened.

Mai and I had been getting ready for bed when my fingers brushed her skin. The vision shot through me so quickly it left me panting.

"Naru? What's wrong?" Mai spun around and peered curiously at me.

"Pyschometric vision." I muttered. Was it back? I turned around and headed straight for the chest of drawers and pulled out Gene's shirt, the one with which I had seen his death. I tried to force the vision, but to no avail. Frowning, I climbed into bed with Mai and tentatively touched her again. The same vision repeated, though slower this time.

"What's wrong?" She asked. But I ignored her and climbed out of bed, storming out of our room and down the corridor to the dorms. I tried touching several things but nothing happened. Why was it only occurring when touching Mai? And why the same vision? And why was the vision of _that_ of all things?

I knocked on the dorm doors before entering and heard the younger female children hurriedly climbing back into bed and hiding whatever they'd been doing. I knew they were all pretending to be asleep when they weren't, but I walked around the room surreptitiously touching things. Nothing.

"_Go to sleep all of you, anyone who yawns tomorrow will receive a detention._" I said as I left and I heard Takako giggle. "That includes you Miss Takako." I was maintaining the 'bad cop' routine in front of the students, my half burnt face helped with this, while Mai was being the 'good cop', this ploy had worked well so far with keeping everyone in line and happy. I walked around the other few dorms, but still nothing.

When back in my room I climbed into bed, took a hold of my abilities and touched Mai. Nothing. So I could stop it still.

"Naru, what's going on?"

"My psychometric visions have returned." I told her sadly. "But seemingly only when touching you." Mai flinched away and tears sprung to her eyes.

"I'm sorry." She said, and then after a pause: "What did you see?"

"The events of that night two weeks ago, both times."

In the semi-darkness, I could see Mai trying to work out when that was. Realisation suddenly dawned on her.

"When we…" She said, blushing.

"Yes."

"Well that's not so bad." She laughed.

"Not bad at a time like now, but what if it happens tomorrow? In front of everyone?" I replied. "It would be highly inappropriate for me to see something so…" I struggled for the word. "Arousing when trying to teach."

Mai continued to giggle.

"Stop laughing." I said, scowling at her. But instead she pulled me in for a kiss I couldn't resist.

The night in question hadn't been the first time we'd had sex, but had definitely been the best time. The first time had been extremely awkward. I had been very nervous and Mai had been very uncomfortable and it didn't go great to be honest. However, after that, with a little more practice, the experience improved greatly.

"Well maybe we don't have to go to sleep just yet…" Mai whispered between kisses.

The following morning, my first lesson of the day was Mathematics. I planned to start the day with a test, to ascertain the ability of the children in the class. After handing out the papers I took my seat at the front of the classroom and yawned.

Takako's hand shot in the air.

"_Yes Takako?_"

"_You are in detention._" She said, grinning cheekily.

"_Excuse me?_"

"_You said anyone yawning today would be in detention._"

The young girl looked very pleased with herself, and her fellow students were giggling behind their hands.

"_You may all begin._" I said, narrowing my eyes at Takako. "_And Takako, I will put you in detention for cheek if you aren't careful._" But I sent her a small smile, I wasn't really angry at her at all.

Damn Mai being so attractive.


	20. Chapter 20: Takako

I had been at the BSPR School for almost two years when I was asked to do a tour for some potential students. I had been chosen as the two boys were Japanese and by the looks of it, a year or so older than me.

I started with the sports hall and grounds before starting around the main building.

"So what abilities do you have?" I asked the pair.

"We see ghosts." The taller of the pair, Shuuya, replied.

"Mediums, cool. Mai-nee's a medium of sorts too. She's kind of like everyone's mum here. Though Ayako-sensei, she's our doctor, is also pretty motherly. Naru-nii is the headteacher and he acts all strict and stuff, but he's alright really."

I spoke to the boys, not their parents. It wasn't about the parents, though they seemed quite happy to trail along occasionally interrupting with questions.

"Mai-nee, or _Mrs Davis_ as we are supposed to call her, takes care of the younger children with Luella, who's also _Mrs Davis_." I told them. I had never called Luella and Martin mum and dad. I had tried, but it had just felt wrong and they didn't mind one bit. "Bou-san teaches music and sports and religious studies. Lin-san teaches languages. _Mr Tonks_ teaches history and geography. Naru-nii teaches all the sciences and maths with _Miss Cashling._" I recited.

"What about learning about paranormal stuff?" The short boy, Shogo, asked.

"Well Naru-nii covers it in science lessons, but Madoka comes and gives special lessons about it every two weeks."

"What about free time?"

But before I could answer, Mai-nee came running around the corner, looking very flustered.

"Takako! Where is Naru?" She asked urgently. "I need to talk to him right now."

"I know you do." I replied, smirking, knowing exactly why she wanted to see Naru-nii so badly. "He's in classroom four, teaching Maths."

"Thank you." Mai-nee said, before running off in the direction of classroom four.

"What was that about?" Shuuya asked.

"Mai-nee and Naru-nii are married you see, and she has just discovered she's pregnant." I revealed, beaming.

"How on earth do you know that?" Shogo enquired incredulously.

"I get psychometric visions. Mostly they are of past stuff or current stuff, but occasionally I get glimpses of the future too. I've known about this day since they got married." I replied. "Mai-nee is like some weird magnet for supernatural stuff, so quite often I see things about her, but Naru-nii banned me from telling her or him because it could influence future events in their lives and ruin the space-time continuum or something." I added. The two boys looked suitably impressed so I turned and continued the tour.

I knew a lot more than I was letting on though. Mai-nee would give birth to a healthy baby boy on Valentine's Day. They would name him Kazuo and Mai-nee would bring him to school every day and everyone would love him.

I couldn't see much further into that future. But it didn't matter, everyone was happy. A fairy tale come true.

**Author's note: So this is the end, I'm sorry I've rushed the end a little, but I don't see where else this was going really. I hope you have all enjoyed it and please review!**


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